I Reject Your Reality & Substitute it With My Own
by littleredkels
Summary: Those stupid hazel eyes, coupled with that stupid smirk that never leaves his face. The stupid lip ring that he bites all the time and the stupid tattoos all over his body. The stupid way he always winks at me, knowing it makes my heart flutter. Stupid...
1. Chapter 1

**I. OWN. NOTHING.**

**Just so you know.**

**This is my first fan-fiction for anything WWE related. Please no hate mail. Kthnx. **

**Not sure what to rate this as of right now. There's a bit of language and there will be a few fairly... REALLY suggestive situations. Hehe. **

**ANYWAY. This is a CM Punk/OC fic. I do hope you enjoy. :)  
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CH 1

There's always been this stipulation behind the WWE. That age old debate about whether or not ANY of it is real.

"_It's fake, you know those guys would be dead if any of that was real."_

"_It's all completely real, look at the blood!"_

"_It's fake, it's like a soap opera with sweaty half naked men!"_

"_Totally real, did you hear that guys collar bone break?"_

Now, being employed by the lovely World Wrestling Entertainment, I suppose it's my job to tell you that all of it is completely and undoubtedly real. But come on, honestly? People are right. If half of those moves were real, we'd be left with a lot fewer wrestlers and not a whole lot of footage to put on TV.

DDT? Dead.

Superplexes? Paralyzed.

Kicks to the back? Failed kidneys.

Chairs to the head? Fractured skulls.

Heads in turnbuckles? Brain damage.

RKO? Back stabber? 720 DDT? Way of the warrior? Lie Detector? In Paradise? Skull crushing finale? GTS? Broken neck, broken back, broken neck, broken face, broken, broken, broken, broken.

Though in defense of the men and women that I work with, I will say this, it's not nearly all as fake as you think it is.

While the matches are fairly choreographed, titles planned months in advance, storylines all written down to a T and finishers practiced for days on end; I've seen the injuries that can happen.

Like the injury that happened on last week's raw that now has a certain Straight Edge Superstar popping up in front of my camera lens at any given moment.

"Having fun yet?"

Like right now…

See, last week our beloved Phil Brooks took a bad bump on his infamous "Go To Sleep" finisher. The collision of John Morrison's forarm- trying to protect his face in the practiced move- with CM Punk's kneecap, resulted in a pretty gruesome dislocation of said patella. I got pictures. Anyway, Punk, being the professional wrestler he is, continued on to pin Morrison. He won the match. However, in all the excitement, his kneecap popped itself back into place. Yay kneecap, right? But, on its way back into place, it took along a nice little bone shard with it, resulting in an excruciating walk back up the ramp. I got pictures of that too.

I take the time to tell you all of this so that you understand the reasoning behind Punk's recent surgery and recovery. And also his obnoxious infatuation with me and my camera…

"I would be if you weren't blocking my shot…" I grimaced, pulling my camera down from my face to frown at him.

Punk let that self-confident smirk spread across his face as he cooed at me, "You act as if you're not excited to see me again."

I let my lips purse and my nose wrinkle as I looked at him, my hip popping to the side as I let my camera rest gently on my stomach, hanging by the strap around my neck. "I would be so much more excited to see you again if I hadn't just gotten rid of you about 10 minutes ago, _Phil._" I emphasized his first name, knowing just how much he hated it.

And he let me know his distaste by the sudden upturn of his nose to the word, "Punk," He corrected me, "And it wasn't 10 minutes ago, it was 30 when you shooed me off." The smirk was back as though it had never gone away.

"Didn't I tell you to go get coffee?" I asked, taking the moment to tug at the ring in the left side of my lip. His eyes watched me and I fought the blood not to rush to my cheeks as I released the metal from the wrath of my teeth and crossed my arms casually under my camera. He watched that too and I sighed angrily as I let my arms fall limply at my sides.

His smirk turned into a full-fledged grin. A shit-eating one if I say so myself. And I do. "You did."

"So… Where is it?" My eyes wandered to his painfully empty hands.

"I heard tell you don't even like coffee." Punk said, it was his turn to cross his arms over his muscular chest. Did I just say muscular? Like I was looking? Because I was totally not looking… Kind of…

My face turned a bright shade of pink and I cleared my throat. He saw me looking. "Go away." I managed, finally, turning on my heel to walk away, cursing myself inwardly as I made an A-line for the Diva's locker room where he surely would NOT be able to follow me.


	2. Chapter 2

CH2

That was most definitely not my best idea of the day as I entered the locker room to the immediate cat-calls of the three women occupying the room.

"So, Charlie, explain to me why it is that Punk has been following you around all day?"

Charlie, that's me. It's short for Charlotte. I find Charlotte to be a little too old timey to fit my personality, not to mention, it's pretty girly and I'm… Not so girly. This was made obvious today by my ratty jeans and worn out vans, not to mention my old Metallica shirt that had a "v" forcibly cut out of the crew cut neckline. So maybe the shirt hugged my body a little tighter than most tom-boys would normally wear, and my jeans made my legs look long and lean… Maybe I was becoming less tom-boy-ish as time went on. That's not the point.

"I made the stupid mistake yesterday of being nice to him and answering his questions about my camera?" I answered with a sigh. I made my way over to my own locker where my bag was kept. During the day, with rehearsals and finishing touches being made for that night's RAW, I was allowed to wear whatever tickled my fancy, however, when it came time for me to stand at the bottom of the ramp in view of the public, I was required to wear a much more professional, womanly outfit. Yes, outfit, singular, I only had one. I don't really own any skirts and I only have one pair of dress slacks, as well as my lonely emerald green polo and my black flats. Sad, I know.

The first woman who had addressed me was Eve Torres, a lovely auburn haired girl who had befriended me literally on my first day at the WWE three months ago. She was a sweet heart, which was really the only way to put it.

The voice that now popped out of the shower area belonged to April Mendez, or AJ, as we called her around the arena. She was a more petite girl with lighter brown hair. No doubt she was getting dressed for tonight's show before going to hair and make-up; the same thing Eve was making her way to the shower to do. "Yeah, but you're not that helpful to any of the guys back here."

"Except for him?" my voice was obviously incredulous.

"Exactly!" AJ laughed as she walked into view in her ring attire. The orange plaid suited her well-tanned and toned body. She was gorgeous, and I couldn't exactly say I wasn't jealous. I would love for men to look at me the way they did AJ and Eve and Barbie.

Speaking of Barbie, Kelly Kelly, GORGEOUS Diva extraordinaire, she also emerged from the showers in her hot pink top and pink and white shorts. She was the epitome of blonde bomb-shell. "I think the point AJ is trying to make is that you don't exactly lend yourself to letting the guys dote on you like that."

I laughed as I popped my head through my polo, stripping myself out of my jeans, "I don't think I would call what Phil is doing 'doting', quite honestly." I informed her as I hopped in circles, getting my legs into my slacks.

"Phil?" I heard Eve's voice over the lightly running water she was wetting her hair with in the shower. "Who calls him Phil?" The girls joined her in a chorus of laughter.

"I do, when he annoys me this much." I defended, tucking the polo into the top of my pants before securing everything firmly with a belt, fumbling through my bag for my shoes.

"And what does he think of that?" Barbie asked as she pulled on the boots that would complete her wrestling gear.

I slipped on my shoes and frowned as I examined myself in the mirror, "He finds it just as annoying as I find him, I think."

"Methinks thou doth protest too much." AJ grinned, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she walked towards me in the mirror. "Don't you have anything else to wear? You wear this exact same thing every week! How much do you spend on washing this in the hotel laundry rooms?"

"Don't quote Shakespeare at me, no, and a lot!" I said defensively, frowning as I pulled my black curls into a messy bun at the base of my neck. The only thing that was my saving grace was the light black liner that made the bright green of my eyes pop against the pale tone of my skin. I wasn't pasty, but I had never been one to tan, I liked the contrast my dark hair provided with my skin, so I'd never tried. Well, except that one summer in high school when I was in marching band… Never again…

Eve was the last to make her way out of the showers in her ring gear, tight, metallic gold. Why did I have to surround myself with beautiful people all the time? "You've been here three months and you haven't bothered buying more business attire?"

I frowned at my reflection before turning around to stare at the three gorgeous ladies, unable to keep the disappointment off of my features, "I'm not the one in the spotlight, so it's not like it really matters." I said flatly, suddenly moody as I headed for the door.

"Woah, woah, woah!" AJ stopped me before I could walk out; I was totally going to have to work on hiding my insecurities. "Why don't you borrow some of my stuff, you're about my size!" she offered. Barbie gave me a kind smile, "And we wear the same size shoe, yeah?"

I furrowed my brow to stare at the three girls now gathered around me, "I appreciate what you're trying to do but, its fine, really." With that I was turned and out the door before any of them could add another word on the subject. I didn't need to be pitied, and I didn't need to attract boys. I just needed to do my job and do it well.

Speaking of things I didn't need, one of them was making his way towards me with a limp that would have been prevented if he'd just use his damned crutches.


	3. Chapter 3

CH 3

"Have you any idea how rude it is to just walk away from someone?" Damn that smirk on his face. I didn't need his shit with my confidence already in jeopardy.

"Have you any idea how rude it is to follow someone around all day when they're trying to do their job?" I retorted, reaching for my camera around my neck before realizing with a groan that I'd left it in the locker room.

As if on cue, I heard Eve's voice from behind me, "Forgetting something Charlie? Hey Punk." Her grin was audible and sure enough, as soon as I turned around, I found it spread across her face.

I narrowed my eyes at her and snatched my camera, "Yes, yes I am." I said, warning her with my eyes not to say a word about the conversation we'd had about Punk only minutes ago.

"Good evening ladies." He addressed the other two women as they emerged, ready to go to hair and make-up, "You all look lovely tonight."

Barbie was the first to laugh, "Pretty sure we look the same way we do every Monday night, Phil, but thanks." AJ literally snorted.

My eyes went wide as I whipped my head to stare at her, a blush rising up my cheeks.

Punk blinked at her and then at me. "Charlotte, I think your little habit is rubbing off on your friends." I swear, that man would wear that smirk to his grave.

I spun back around to face him, "Charlie." I said curtly, putting the strap of the camera around my neck.

He grinned, "Punk." He replied easily.

"Point made." I said with a nod as I made my way around him. I could hear my friends giggling on their way into the "salon" that was set up for them. I waited for the footsteps to disappear but only heard the sound of beat up converse on the hard concrete floor. "You're very obnoxious, you know that?"

"You're very hard to get, you know that?" Now HE was mocking ME. Fair a bout's fair play I suppose.

"Hard to get or not interested?"

I heard his footsteps stop and I laughed as I kept walking.

"You honestly expect me to believe that load of bull?"

Shuffling as he hurried to catch up.

"Yes, yes I do." It was much easier to say that when he couldn't see my face. My mother always told me that my eyes give me away when I lie.

He laughed behind me before he finally matched his stride to walk next to me. "Seriously? You take pictures of half-naked men wrestling each other. And you're not attracted to ANY of them?"

I spouted off the first name that popped into my head, "Mike Mizanin." I threw the name out into the open air.

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"What about Mike?" the familiar voice of John Cena popped out of seemingly nowhere.

"Charlie likes him." Punk said, his smile almost malicious.

"Woah, seriously?"

"No I do-"

"Hey Mike!" John was calling to a scantily clad figure at the refreshments table, a bottle of water grasped in his hand.

"Wha-?" The Miz turned, waving, with a smile on his face.

"Charlie likes you!" Punk loved every second of this.

"Fuck my life!" I buried my face in my hands as Mike made his way to our little group.

"Really?" He gazed at me with piercing blue eyes.

"Apparently, you're the only man in the WWE that she finds attractive." Punk informed his friend.

I reached a hand up to my face and rubbed at my forehead. "Does this really need to be a public conversation…?"

"Of course it does!" Phil was now pushing me towards Mike, "Confess your love!"

I spun around just in time for my back to collide with the solid body of the Miz, now staring CM Punk in the face. "How do I end this?" I asked miserably.

John and Mike watched with piqued interest, both grinning, wondering what exactly Punk was planning. The man in question did nothing but smile down at me expectantly.

"I think you're pretty okay? Your arms and chest are to die for, that stupid lip ring you play with all the time drives me up the wall and I hate it when you look at me with those stupid hazel eyes because it makes me weak at the knees!"

Punk's eyes went slightly wide as he smiled, "Oh?"

"This… This is the part when I walk away slowly… I'm going to close my eyes and walk away and then I'm going to wake up and it will all just have been a really, REALLY bad dream…" I closed my eyes slowly and turned on my heel, only to run into the hard surface area of Mike's body. My eyes opened almost painfully slow to look up at his face, "I really just said that out loud, didn't I?"

He gave me a pat on the head, "I'm just gonna leave you two alone now. C'mon John." And with that I was left alone with my back to CM Punk.

I watched with an almost agonizing pain in my chest as the two men retreated towards the backstage area, getting ready for the evening's show. My mind couldn't figure out what to do. Call them back, run away, punch Punk in the gut and run away, there were a lot of options!

Before I could choose one of the many things floating around in my head, I heard the man behind me clear his throat expectantly.

"I'm… I have work to do…" as I took my first retreating step away, his hand clasped around my arm. Of course, in my heightened state of fight or flight, I didn't anticipate what happened next.

I spun, now facing Punk, and simultaneously lifted my hand as though I would hit him. The hand not grasping my arm reached up to grab onto my wrist, stopping the motion of what would have been a fairly epic back hand to his cheek. We now peered into each other's eyes; him with what was obviously amusement, and me with what I'm sure was almost sheer terror.

"So." He spoke first.

"So." I'm not sure if the response was an attempt on being a smart ass or if in the moment I simply couldn't do anything other than repeat what I'd just heard him say.

He laughed, well chuckled. You know, that sort of low laugh that guys do. It's not really a laugh because they find something funny, more of just a noise they make to let you know they're amused by whatever stupid thing you've just said or done. "More with the repeating?"

"No?" Why the hell was that a question?

One eye brow inched its way closer to his hairline. "You're not going to talk about it are you?"

"Talk about what?" For whatever reason, my mind deemed it suddenly necessary to deny the entire past 5 minutes. If he would let me.

The eyebrow raised itself further on his forehead.

"I really need to go, the show's about to start."

"I'll join you."

Oh dear Lord…

"Fine." I took off, staring adamantly at my feet as though I expected them to do something other than carry me exactly where he knew I was going in the first place. Stupid feet. Do something unexpected…


	4. Chapter 4

CH 4

My feet, however did nothing unexpected. They carried me to my usual place at the bottom of the ramp. I took pictures while Punk looked over my shoulder, ignored his questions and made my way back to the Divas locker room after the show was done.

There was a lot of talk and bustling in the room with all the girls changing and I had a small hope that I could make it in and out without anyone stopping me. I just needed to get to the hotel and not talk to anyone. No more talking for me. Talking was bad. Bad things happened when I spoke to people.

"Charlie!" Eve was already in her street clothes, "A bunch of us are going to a club downtown! You have to go with us! We'll get you all dolled up and everything!"

I literally found myself groaning, "I really just kind of wanted to stay in for the night." I found myself suddenly surrounded by three other women all in agreement that I just HAD to go out with them. "Fine."

AJ, who was one of the 4 gathered reached over to high five Beth Pheonix. On screen, my three closest friends and Beth and Natalya-The Divas of Doom- weren't exactly kind to each other. But behind the curtains, almost ALL of the Divas sort of had a pack mentality. They had to watch out for one another.

"But you're going to have a lot of work cut out for you." I warned them, kicking my shoes into my duffle bag before I began strip out of my work attire. I looked happily at my jeans, about to put them on when Barbie shoved me towards the showers.

"Wash your hair, shave your legs. We've got the clothes under control!"

I rolled my eyes, "I was afraid you'd say that…" I mumbled, though I followed her instructions. A shower didn't sound half bad right now anyway. Wash away the day's dirt, and… horribly awkward moments… I shook my head, no, we were not going to think about that. Maybe I would get lucky and Punk would just leave it alone. A snort jumped out of my mouth before I could stop it. Yeah right, Punk NEVER left well enough alone.

As I finished my shower I grabbed two fresh towels from towel rack, one for my hair and one for my body. I walked out of the shower and had just reached the point where the other girls could see me before I was quite honestly half assaulted.

The four women sat me down on a chair before I could say a word, Beth at my feet, Barbie doing my nails, AJ with a make-up bag in hand and Eve behind me already brushing my hair.

"Okay, no peeking in the mirror." The girls pulled me from the chair and walked me over to a section of lockers that were nowhere near said mirror. I looked down at my French manicured nails and toes with flowers on them. What on earth were they doing to me?

Barbie and Beth had rushed over to this side of the room as soon as they had finished their painting duties. My eyes widened slowly. So this is what they had been doing…

I opened my mouth to speak but Beth cut me off, "We know you normally don't wear really girly stuff but we thought you would look dynamite in this!"

I stared at the outfit laid out for me and shook my head, "Fine. I've come this far… Why back out now…?"

The locker room was empty except for me and my assailants by the time I was dressed and they finally led me over to the mirror. AJ had her hands clasped over my eyes and all of them were muttering things to each other before I heard Beth speak, "Okay, are you ready?" I gave a simple nod as I felt AJ pull her hands from my face.

I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst before slowly opening my eyes.

My jaw dropped. My hair was straightened perfectly with just a small bit of volume so that it wasn't flat against my head. It now hung perfectly to the middle of my chest, drawing attention to the "assets" I had once been almost certain that I lacked. In this outfit, I lacked nothing. The top was a light stretchy material that had a deep v-cut. The fabric all gathered right beneath my bust with a silver-rhinestone broach to create a focal point. The sleeves were flared and billowy and actually made me smile a bit. I had on… Wait for it… A skirt. And not just any kind of skirt. A MINI-pencil skirt, that was charcoal gray. And to top everything off, we had a two toned black and white pair of stilettos, with false laces. You know, the kind that mock old 20's shoes? Those.

But it wasn't just the outfit that had me stunned, it was what AJ had one to my FACE! My skin looked flawless and she had brushed my cheeks with pink. I looked like a doll. That fact was only accentuated by the light lavender shadow around my eye, the thin line of black to line it all and my eyelashes. Whatever mascara she had used made them look like falsies! To top it all off she'd given me a dramatic, dark red lip.

"So…? What do we think…?" Barbie asked, seemingly afraid of my silence.

"I… wow…" I couldn't think of anything else to say. "Thank you…" was about all I could manage to whisper out. I smiled, a genuine smile, "Thank you." I said again, louder this time, before I turned around to all of them and motioned for a group hug.

The girls all laughed and high fived each other before pulling away from the giant hug, "Oh!" I rushed to my bag, grabbing my camera, "I have to go give my card to the tech crew!"

Eve laughed, "In case you haven't noticed, none of us have gotten ready. No rush." She gave a kind smile and shooed me away with her hands.

I smiled at all of them, thanking them again before I rushed from the locker room to turn in my pictures from the evening before I got chewed out for being late on the dead line.


	5. Chapter 5

CH 5

As I began the trek over to my production team friends, who were all the way on the other side of the arena, I realized that I was going to be walking directly past the men's locker room. I froze on the spot as I thought of this, camera in hand as I stared to my right side at the door, willing it to stay closed as I took a step.

As my heel clacked against the concrete I literally found myself shushing it. Why is it that things are always louder when you feel the need to be quiet?

Either way, my shushing was completely un-needed as the door opened and I stood up straight, frozen to the spot as five men walked out of the dressing room.

"Shit!" I turned and attempted to scurry away; hoping to God my face was hidden by my hair as I turned.

"Woah, woah." It was John Cena's voice. "Hey there sweet heart, are you looking for something?" his tone was flirty.

I cleared my throat and shook my head, knowing they could see the motion from behind.

"You don't seem familiar, are you new around here?" This voice belong to The Miz.

"Uhm. No." I said, praying they didn't recognize the sound of my vocals.

"Why haven't we seen you around?" That one was Randy Orton, the Apex Predator. The lilt to his voice and the implication behind his question sounded entirely like a predator.

"I haven't been here that long?" The answer was a question. I took another step away.

"Weren't you going somewhere?" The kind voice of Evan Bourne.

"N-no. I—I was just…"

"Nice tattoo." Punk.

"W-which one?" I had two tattoos that would have been visible to them right now, the one on my left arm on the inside of my bicep of a weeping willow, or-

"The one on your leg." That one. It was a design only a few inches above my knee of a lace garter with the image of .41 derringer pistol hidden beneath it. It was one of my favorites.

"Oh, thanks." I took a few more steps forward and heard the men walking after me. Shit, shit, shit!

One of them took hold of my arm and when I looked down to see the tattooed fingers, I realized just how stupid I was to think that they wouldn't notice it was me eventually. He turned me around and his jaw literally dropped as our gazes met.

I clamped my lips shut, eyes wide and heart pounding as my eyes searched him and then looked at the other men. John was in jeans and a nice red polo, Mike was wearing a light blue shirt that complimented his eyes and a pair of nice black jeans. Randy was just in a grey graphic tee and dark wash denim, he was standing next to Evan who was in well-worn pants and a simple green v-neck.

My eyes caught CM Punk last. He was in a pair of jeans that seemed tighter than what he normally wore and his shirt was a green button up over a tight black undershirt. The sleeves were long but he had them rolled up military style to ¾ length. All in all, he left me breathless.

"Holy shit, Charlie?" It was Evan that spoke.

My eyes finally left the man in front of me and I gave a sheepish smile, "Uh… Hey." I said, shrugging up my shoulders.

"You look—" Randy started.

"HOT!" Mike finished and the boys laughed, grinning to each other.

I felt my cheeks grow warm, "Th-thanks…" I said, my voice soft and nervous. I looked back at Punk who still had his hand on my arm. He was staring at me. I blinked at him slowly and took my arm away, which seemed to snap him out of his reverie. "I uh… I need to get my memory card to the production team…" I said softly, my eyes not leaving his, though I was addressing all of them.

"Yeah…" Punk spoke, his voice seeming distant, "We'll uh… We'll catch you around." He said, turning back to his friends and motioning them to follow him back down the hallway I had just come from.


	6. Chapter 6

CH 6

The tech crew gave out cat calls and whistles and I brushed them off with a smile. I had to get back to the girls so that we could leave for our night out on the town!

Once I'd made it to the locker room I was smiling, until I opened the door. There, inside of my safe place, sat the four of my friends… And the five men I had just encountered in the hallway.

I tilted my head upon seeing the men, looking up at the Divas who were all expertly finishing up their make-up, all ready to go in their mini-dresses, shorts and skirt.

"Oh, good, you're back!" Eve was sitting next to Randy on a bench near the mirrors, "Well, everyone's here so when AJ finishes up, we'll go."

The other two women had finished up and went to sit with their perspective men. Barbie made her way to Mike and Beth went to sit with John. I watched AJ put her make-up away and grab her purse. So help me if she walked over to-

Sure enough, she made her way to Evan and I was left standing there, staring across the room at Phil fucking Brooks.

They had SO done this on purpose… But I wouldn't say anything, that would just start something. Instead I forced a smile on my face, "Are we ready then?" I asked, going to stand next to the man who was OBVIOUSLY my designated date.

Everyone stood up and Phil rose next to me, grinning and holding out his arm. I glared at him, opting to grab my purse instead. "Are we walking?"

Beth laughed, "Of course we are, the club we're going to is two blocks away."

Everyone laughed, except for me as the door was opened and the couples filed out of the room. Punk and I were the last two and I let the door close behind Randy and Eve before I stared up at him- I was now only two inches shorter than him rather than the normal six; yay four inch heels!

He grinned at me, "Upset you got stuck with me?"

"I honestly can't say I'm surprised by it." I looked down at my hands clutching my purse in front of me before throwing the short strap over my shoulder, "Behave."

"When do I ever not?"

I rolled my eyes as we caught up with the group, exiting the arena and making our way in a small crowd down the two blocks to the night club.

None of us were carded; apparently one of the girls had called ahead, and we walked in past the ropes, past the line, past a bunch of screaming fans. Of course I was used to not being screamed at, though it put a smile on my face when Punk put his hand on my waist to help me up the two steps into the club and I heard "Who is that chick with CM Punk?"

Apparently he heard it too, because he moved up next to me once we were inside and rested his whole arm around him back, hand still on the same hip. My heart seemed to jump up in my chest and I fought hard to swallow. We followed at the back of the pack as the group made their way towards a large, round table in a corner.

"What are you even doing here? I thought you didn't drink." I asked of my date over the roar of the music.

He shrugged, "Sometimes it's fun to go out and hang out with friends. Just because I don't drink, doesn't mean no one else can."

I scooted into the booth as a waitress was leaving the table, I looked across at John who was putting his wallet back in his pocket, "First round's on me!"

"That's nice of you, but I didn't order!" I called over the crowed, happy when the DJ turned down the music now that the popular song was over and it was now just a low roar instead of the ear pounding music it had been.

John and Beth exchanged a glance, "We got you something." Beth said with a smile.

I blinked at both of them slowly. Beth knew damn well that I was a push over and it took little to NO alcohol to get me all worked up. She grinned back at me and I noticed that my other friends were giggling. Something else they had done on purpose… Awesome…

I didn't say anything, instead looked at Punk and forced a smile, "I'm gonna go dance." I said, watching him scoot out of the booth and hold a hand out to help me. I managed my way out, leaving my purse at the table with the others and started towards the dance floor before he grabbed my hand more firmly. It jerked me backwards and I turned to look at him with confusion.

"Am I your date, or am I your date?"

My eyebrows raised and I stared at him, "You want me to dance with you." It was a statement, not a question. He grinned and began to lead the way to the floor. I turned over my shoulder to stare at my friends and all of them did nothing but wave.

I made a mental note to be very angry with the rest of them for the night. If the alcohol didn't ruin that first.

Once out on the dance floor we were just in time for a slow song, a country slow song. Now I'm from Texas, I KNOW how to two step, but the man from Chicago? "We should go sit back down."

He grabbed my hand, placing it on his shoulder before pulling me close with a hand on my waist and he took off. I stared up at him, my feet keeping up easily. No way was this happening. "You actually dance?" I laughed.

He grinned, "I've been to a lot of clubs over the years in a lot of different places." he told me as he lead me into a spin. I couldn't help but smile as I twirled and came back, I wasn't good at a lot of things, but dancing was not one of them. "I've picked up a few things."

I blushed, "You're really great." I said, looking down to watch his feet. He wasn't just making it up, he was two stepping for real! I couldn't say I wasn't shocked.

He laughed softly, "You didn't think I could dance?" he asked, pretending that I'd hurt his feelings. I shook my head, avoiding his eyes, mostly because I could feel them on me. "I'd say I'm hurt, but it's a pretty common misconception."

Leading me into a double spin I was nearly walking on air. I was dancing, with a man I was head over heels for, he was actually leading me, and I was getting to show off. While looking hot! I spun back in towards him with a huge smile on my face. My eyes connected with his and I thought my heart might explode in my chest. He was looking at me with this smile on his face I'd never seen before. It wasn't that jack ass shit eating grin, or his smart ass smirk. None of the trade mark CM Punk faces that he continually made. It was a real smile, with teeth and everything. He was having fun dancing… With me…

The song started winding down and he took me around the whole floor, spin, spin, lift, dance, step, lift, spin, spin, spin, spin, dip.

We stayed there like that for what seemed like forever. I was bent back, both hands placed around his neck, my leg popped out, staring up into those damned hazel eyes. But he was looking at me too, legs braced, one arm around my waist, the other holding me lightly between my shoulder blades. I could feel people in the crowd staring at us, seemingly waiting for something. I blinked. He blinked. We stared for one last moment before he pulled me back up and I regained my balance. We stayed like that for a moment too, our chests heaving slightly from the effort of dancing, bodies close.

"We… I bet the drinks are there…" I spoke first over the music and he just looked back at me with that same smile stretching across his features.

"I bet you're right." He said easily, putting his hand on my waist as he'd done earlier at the door to escort me back to our table.

Punk and I finally made it back to our little corner and I slid into the booth, heart still racing as he slid in next to me, closer now than he had been before. I looked at the drink in front of me. A shot glass with a clear liquid in it, and a large glass of what looked like sweet tea.

The rest of the group, while looking at the two of us with knowing grins, said nothing, but all held up their shot glasses. Punk sniffed his glass and John laughed, "It's water Punk. We even got you a shot of Pepsi." He motioned to the shot glass in front of Phil that was filled with, sure enough, Pepsi. "It's diet."

Punk laughed at this, as did the rest of us and we all raised our glasses, clinking them together in the middle with a shout of "Cheers!"


	7. Chapter 7

**So... I recently found out that my boyfriend has a bone tumor... I'm still planning to keep the story going but, I think it's safe to say that I've been a bit distracted and it may take me longer to write/update. If you guys can just be patient with me, I would SO appreciate it. Here's chapter 7 and I have 8 already written so I'm hoping to get it up tomorrow for you guys to make up for my absense. Enjoy! **

CH 7

For anyone in the world who doesn't normally consume alcohol, do not let the names of drinks confuse you. A Long Island Iced Tea doesn't include any tea. At all. None. Nada. Zilch. It's just a name they made up to go with the drink because of its color. Let me educate you on the making of a Long Island Iced Tea. Here are the ingredients. Vodka, tequila, rum, gin, triple sec, sweet n' sour, and sometimes depending on the bar, a splash of coke. Okay. Now, taking into consideration just how much liquor goes into one of these things, let us make our way back in my little story. A little earlier when I told you about how I can't hold my alcohol? Well, with a straight shot of vodka, 2 ½ long islands and the fact that I hadn't eaten since BEFORE Raw that evening… I was GONE. Not tipsy, not buzzed, not drunk. WASTED, trashed, hammered, zonked, whatever you want to call it, I was SO there. And I'm pretty sure everyone knew it.

Not that I minded, the music sounded sweeter, my dance moves seemed more fluid and Punk… Well, he was looking even better than normal. We would dance for a while and then he would make his way back to the table for some of his water. I would refuse to join him and find myself in a sea of people. I had men left and right buying me shots from waitresses wandering the floor. I took them, of course, completely out of my mind on booze and loving them simply because they were in what looked like test tubes. Like from high school chemistry! Who does that? Putting drinks in test tubes! How cute! I had at least four of them from what I can remember, and many men were asking for my number, though honestly at the moment I couldn't remember it for the life of me. Punk would wander back to the dance floor and at times, forcibly escort me back to our table where I were sit in the booth, half leaning on him and laughing for no reason at all.

At one point I remember a fan finding the group, getting autographs and asking for a picture. Being the only non-superstar, I took her camera and told everyone to gather around the table. "1… 2…" hiccup. "Thre-" the world began to swim and my vision blurred. I stood there, half laughing as Punk's brows furrowed, "Charlie?" I felt my knees bend and I held out the camera to someone, anyone.

"I'm going to fall down now." I was laughing and my legs seemed to cave beneath me. I saw Punk dash forward. I know he caught me, throw the numbness of my drunkenness I could somewhat feel his arms around my body. I blinked once, twice, his face swam in my vision before everything went black.

_It was a cold night in February, the very first night after my first Raw. I was out with a group of the superstars. I still had the first day jitters and so I had declined to drinking, deciding instead, that I would be designated to get everyone back to the hotel safely. And I had done so. We had all piled into the van that I had as a rental to get to the club and I had found everyone cabs back to the hotel, making sure that the drivers were paid for and knew where to take all of my new found friends. I was feeling pretty good. I had started a new job with nice people, I was going to get to travel. Things were looking up for me._

_That particular night, I had to get back to my rental, which was parked just a couple of blocks away in a parking garage. I took the moment to think about it as I passed an alley at the side of the club. I could walk down the lit streets back to the garage, but it was cold and the wind wouldn't be able to whip at me as much if I took this back way down just a few alleys back to it. And so I took a right, headed down the small brick alley way between buildings. _

_I was wearing a pair of tight skinny jeans with a whole in the knee from constant use, a V-neck black long-sleeved shirt and my customary leather jacket. Sure, I wasn't too dressed up, but I was looking pretty good, none worse for the wear and at least I was comfortable. Not like my Diva friends in their short skirts and heels, freezing their asses off. _

_I jammed my hands into the pockets of my jeans as streams of steam issued from my mouth at my every breath. We were up north, Ohio I think, so the cold of winter was still chilling me to the bone. I hung my head, staring at my feet, making sure I didn't step on any bottles as I walked._

_Making a few corners, I was almost out of the alley as I kicked a crushed beer can into the wall. I looked up when I noticed that a foot caught the can right before it crashed into the trash and bricks._

_The man was large, tall and muscular, thick built, like he had played football in high school, but somehow long and lanky at the same time. He had mousy brown hair and a clean shaven face that made him look… odd. His cheek bones were unnaturally prominent, as though he had lost entirely too much weight in too short a time. He creeped me out._

_I cast him a wary smile as I hung my head again, not wanting to make eye contact. My pace quickened and I could feel my pulse beginning to speed up with my footsteps._

_I pair of boot clad feet came into view and my heart sank into my stomach. I looked up and he had stepped away from the wall, his eyes roaming my body. It made me uncomfortable and so I pulled my jacket close around my torso, as if the waist length coat would hide me from his view. My eyes made their way to his and I immediately wished I hadn't looked. They were green, like my eyes, but something was off about them. My eyes are a vivid green, literally almost the color of grass, but his; they were pale, but not in a pretty way. His irises almost looked as though they'd lost their luster. Like the pigment had been drained out of his eyes and replaced itself with the bloodshot veins that surround them. _

_I tugged at my lip ring with my teeth as I often did when I was nervous, "I-I'm sorry, I just need to get through here. My car is in that garage right around the corner. I though this way would be faster, but I didn't think anyone would be here." My words were strung close together, I was speaking too quickly and my voice was higher than it should have been in normal conversation._

_I heard him laugh. It wasn't normal, it was dark, raspy and terrifying. He reached a hand out and touched my face. His skin was like leather, rough and hard, but it hung loosely from his hand, again like he used to have more muscle than he did now. There were scabs on his skin, bruises and holes. He was a junkie. He was a junkie, this was where he lived and I had just trespassed into his living room._

_His fingers clasped around my jaw and forced my face up towards his, my heart leapt from my chest and I felt tears sting my eyes immediately. "I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry." I spoke again, my tongue getting tied in knots as my adrenaline kicked in. My fight or flight response was undoubtedly flight and I tried to move to turn around but I suddenly found his other arm around me, tight. My body touched his and I couldn't help it when a small sob exited my mouth. He laughed again before he took both arms and shoved me all of his might back the full 5 feet to the wall. My back made contact before my head and I saw stars, the edge of my eyesight going hazy for a moment before I looked up and saw him advancing on me._

_He grabbed the collar of my jacket, pulling my face towards him and I whimpered, "Please don't! P-please, please stop!" I turned my face from him but he held it firmly in place with his free hand. Tears fell down my cheeks as he pushed his gnarled lips against mine. They were like sand paper, chapped and thin._

_I sobbed softly and he took this moment to shove his tongue into my mouth. I screamed, the sound muffled by his lips and he did nothing but laugh as he moved his hand from the collar of my jacket slowly down, underneath to the soft jersey knit fabric of my shirt._


	8. Chapter 8

**Aw, my sweet, sweet readers! You guys are being so kind and encouraging about everything. Thank you SO much for your support! Here's that chapter I promised you. :)**

**I'm on a writing spree right now, so hopefully I'll be able to do a chapter a day for at least a little while. Anthony (my boyfriend) has a biopsy Monday morning, so depending on the results of that, there might be a hiatus. But honestly, writing helps to distract me, it's like free therapy! Hehe.**

**Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to all of my reviews and all of my readers! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

CH 8

I was moving, but I wasn't walking. I could feel the light May evening breeze against my cheeks, the bouncing of steps, but my legs weren't moving.

My eyes fluttered open and I looked up to see a face. His face. I opened my mouth to speak but only let out what was most definitely a VERY unattractive burp. I groaned as my stomach churned. He looked down at me, "We're almost back to the arena Charlie, just hold on. I'll get you to the hotel." All I could do was nod and close my eyes, letting my head loll onto his shoulder.

_There was a loud noise, the breaking of glass and suddenly I was sliding down the wall as I sobbed, pulling my knees to my chest and wiping my mouth repeatedly with the back of my hand. I looked up and saw a man in a black shirt and jeans, he had my assailant up against the opposite wall._

"_You have 10 seconds to get your junkie ass out of here before I call the cops." It was a familiar voice, I recognized it._

_The man ran back down the alley the way I had come and soon my savior turned and walked over to me. He knelt down in front of me and I knew I had met this man. Earlier this evening in fact. He was CM Punk, one of the wrestlers I now worked with. He stared at me, looking me over slowly with worried hazel eyes. "Are you okay?"_

_I stared up at him, the tears still falling from my eyes, though I didn't seem to notice. I couldn't speak, my whole body was shaking. He grabbed me by the shoulder and I let out a yelp, sobbing and shrinking away from him._

_He made a tutting noise, seemingly at himself and rubbed one of my shoulders with a gentle hand, "Hey, it's okay. I'm here to help. Are you hurt?"_

_My eyes opened to stare up at him and I opened my mouth to speak but all that came out was another soft whimper. He saw the emotion welling up in my face and he shushed me. He grabbed my elbows, holding my forearms steady and helped me to stand. I blinked up at him and he offered a kind smile. "Can you walk?" I nodded slowly, my breathing still a bit shallow, but my heart was slowing down now. "Do you live here?" he asked. He didn't recognize me. _

_I shook my head, "Raw." I squeaked out, still on the shell shocked side._

_He took a moment to think and I could see the word click in his head, "WWE? You work for Raw?" he asked and I nodded slowly again. He nodded to himself and put an arm carefully around my waist, "Do you remember where your rental is?" I shook my head no and he nodded again, "I'll drive you back to hotel and you can remember where it is tomorrow, okay?"_

_My whole body was shaking as we made our way down the street to where he'd parked his own rental car. He kept one hand on me the whole time he opened the door for me and helped me in. Once he was in on the other side he let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "Do you remember your room number?"_

_I shook my head slowly and finally seemed to find part of my voice, "Key is in the car." I mumbled and he seemed to understand._

"_Okay, is there anyone I can take you to? Do you have any friends?" He asked, turning the car on. He placed a hand on my knee when I jumped at the sudden sound of the engine starting._

_I blinked watery eyes at him, "Eve."_

"Poor thing." It was Eve's voice speaking.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the bright lights of the Divas locker room. I groaned and immediately saw five faces around me. Eve was to the left of my head with Barbie, AJ was on the right side with Evan and Punk was directly above me.

"You alright there sweet heart?" Evan asked, placing a cool rag on my forehead.

I squinted into the bright light and merely nodded, closing my eyes once more and listening to the others speak. Through listening, I learned that Beth and John had gone bar hopping long ago. Randy and Mike had gone straight back to the hotel in a cab, both being too drunk to drive, which left me with the five men and women gathered around me.

"You guys go ahead; I'll get her stuff and get her to the hotel." Punk's voice was speaking.

Eve piped up, "That is so sweet of you but AJ and I can do it, her room is right next door to ours."

I could sense movement, Punk moving his hands. Waving her off, he spoke, "No, it's fine. You guys head out. We'll stay here a bit longer and then I'll get her back." He said, his voice holding nothing but kindness.

The girls all agreed and placed small kisses on my forehead and cheeks, "Feel better Charlie."

And I heard their heels walking away with the sound of conversation and the moving of duffle bag material. The door shut and Punk and I were left in silence.


	9. Chapter 9

**Aaaand here's another update. I'm slowing down a little on posting because I'm stuck in a bit of writers block and can't get past the beginning of chapter 13. ;**

**Anyway, things get a little interesting in this chapter. I'm pretty proud of it. Hehe. :)**

CH 9

_He knocked on the door for me as I stood there, my whole body still trembling. We waited for a moment before the door opened, revealing Eve in a long sleeved shirt and pajama pants. "Punk?" her eyes traveled to me. "Charlie?"_

_Punk put his arms lightly on my shoulders and ushered me forward, "Can we come inside?"_

My eyes opened again and my stomach rolled, "Shit…"

I saw Punk's shoe push a trashcan towards me and none too soon as I rolled my body off the bench and threw up into it. I coughed and spluttered, tears in my eyes. I hated throwing up. For whatever reason, it scared me; probably because it was something that I couldn't force myself to control. Whatever the reason, it left me in tears after I pushed the can away, though I had to admit, I felt a shit ton better after getting some of the alcohol out of my stomach.

He extended his hand with a wet towel and I wiped my mouth off before he gave me a glass of water. I swirled it around my mouth before I spit that out in the trashcan too and looked up at him. He was straddling the bench I had been laying on with his hands on his knees. He watched me carefully with a gentleness I'd only seen in him one other time. "You think you're good or are you gonna need that again?" he pointed to the waste basket and I shook my head.

"I'm fine now." I said, my voice slightly hoarse. "I can't guarantee that I won't pass out again, but my stomach is better…" I mumbled, still feeling dizzy and light headed, but not enough to make me nauseas, just enough that I found myself suddenly leaning back against the lockers.

He nodded and picked up the edge of the trash can, walking over to the door, "I'll be right back." He told me, eyes scanning my face for something that I couldn't quite think of. I nodded to him and he was gone, leaving me to close my eyes and enjoy the feeling of the cold metal against the back of my head.

"_Oh my God how did this happen?" Eve had a wet cloth in her hand, wiping the make-up and grime from my face. I was seated on the edge of her bed with her and Punk kneeling in front of me. _

"_I heard her crying and when I walked down the alley, that's what I saw. I told him to split before I dialed 911 and he ran for the hills." Punk explained to her._

_I was staring at him, weather because he was ruggedly handsome or because he had just saved me from being raped in an alley, I wasn't sure._

"_I asked her if she had any friends and she said you, so I brought her here. I hope its okay." He said, now standing up. Eve followed him in this motion and walked him over towards the door._

"_Of course it's okay; I'll take care of her tonight and let you know how she is in the morning." With that she thanked him again and opened the door to let him out._

_I saw him turn back to look at me, "Charlie, right?" I nodded, "You take care of yourself Charlie, and don't worry. I won't let anything like that happen to you ever again. Not on my watch." He tapped his right wrist as though there were an actual watch there and gave me a kind smile. _

_I felt the corners of my lips tug and my eyes water once more before I nodded at him and he left without another word._

"Charlie? Charlie?" I felt a wet cloth on my forehead, "Charlotte, can you hear me?"

My eyes fluttered open to allow the filtering of street lights to fill my vision. I blinked slowly and turned my head to the right. Punk was looking at me with the passenger's seat door opened. He reached over me, undoing my seatbelt and hoisting me up into his arms. "Sorry, I didn't want to wake you but I need your room number."

"1242." The numbers slurred out of my mouth as I half-assed the draping of my arms around his neck.

I heard the automatic doors of the lobby and the dinging of the elevator as he stepped in, hitting the floor and leaning against the back wall with me in his arms.

I gazed up at him, "Why are you doing this?"

He blinked down at me as the numbers on the elevator panel slowly went up. "Because someone has to." He chuckled, there was that smirk again. Good to know he hadn't lost it completely.

I frowned up at him, "But I could have gone with Eve and AJ." I protested, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt for him to let me down.

He did so, gingerly placing me on the floor of the elevator but all the while keeping on hand on my hip to hold me steady as the lift came to a halt at the 12th floor.

Punk and I made our way down the hall to where my room was, but not without him catching me a fair amount of times as my legs decided to give way underneath me. He laughed as we finally made it to my door and I nearly toppled over trying to retrieve the card key from my purse. "Let me." He offered, taking the tiny bag and digging in it until he found what he was looking for. He slid the key in until the light turned green, and we heard the noise of the tumblers moving inside of the door. He turned the knob and led me in. I stumbled over to the bed and plopped down, sighing softly as the smell of fresh linens hit my nose.

Punk closed the door behind him and walked over to my bed, lifting one of my legs and taking the shoe off of my foot. He did the same for the other foot and then made his way over to my suit case which was laying open on a small pull out couch.

"What are you doing?" I rolled my head on the bed to watch him, not wanting to sit up.

He smiled at me over his shoulder, "I'm finding your night clothes." He said easily, finding pair of cheer shorts and a tank top.

I blinked at what he'd pulled out and frowned, "I'm going to freeze in that."

He laughed at me as he made his way back over to the bed. He bent over me and took the earrings out of my ears and the necklace from my neck. "You're going to sweat all night, trust me, you'll want these." He said, setting the clothes on the bed beside me as he leaned over to put my jewelry on the bedside table.

He held out the shorts for me and I struggled to sit up, but he lent a helping hand. What I didn't expect was how difficult it was to get one leg through the leg hole in my shorts. He laughed and shook his head.

Punk, yet again, extended and hand for me and I took it. He helped me to stand and I was shocked when he turned me around, unzipped my skirt and began to pull it off of me.

"Hey! What are you—" he shushed me as he turned me back around and knelt before me, holding my shorts open at my feet. I blinked at him oddly and he smiled as though what he was doing should have been obvious.

"Left foot." He said easily. I picked up my left foot and he slid it through the hole with ease. Why wasn't it that easy for me to get my leg in the hole…? "Right foot." I did as instructed and he pulled the shorts up, securing them around my waist before I went to sit back down.

I was watching him carefully, like I would memorize his movements as he moved for the hem of my shirt. I stared at him incredulously as he began to lift it, "Punk-"

"Arms up." He instructed once again and I found myself obeying him. He lifted the shirt up and over my head and I couldn't help but feel exposed. I looked at him quizzically and he just shook his head with that kind smile of his. It seemed so rare to find it gracing his features but I felt that I had seen it so many times tonight… "Do you sleep with this on?" he snapped the strap of my bra against my shoulder.

"Ow! No…" I said, clumsily rubbing the spot where the elastic had stung me.

He leaned forward, leaving my face in the crook of his neck. My heart jumped in my chest. What was he-

He reached around my back and I felt the clasp of my bra pop. He grabbed the straps and began pulling them around the front of my body to take it off. I clutched to it, "Hey!" I frowned at him, not understanding what he was doing.

"Calm down. Do you want my help or not?" Punk asked. I nodded slowly and he pulled my bra off, leaving my top half naked. I couldn't help the color that grew in my cheeks but he didn't even seem to be looking. He moved to grab my tank top and opened it up. "Arms up." He said softly once again and I obliged and he slid the cool fabric over my head and down my torso until I was covered up.

My heart was fluttering in my chest like a bird trapped in a cage and I found myself unable to do anything but gaze up into kind hazel eyes. He made his way to the bathroom and I heard water running and rummaging. He emerged with three cups in his hands and a package of Tylenol. One cup was full of water, the other of mouth wash and the other was empty. "Rinse your mouth out." He handed me the mouthwash and the empty cup and I did as I was told.

Punk went back to the bathroom and threw the cups away before coming back into the room and smiling at me. "There's water and pain relief for when you wake up in the morning. You key card is on the table," he pointed, "Is there anything else you need?"

I stared at him, almost unable to believe that he was real. I shook my head slowly and he nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow then." And he headed for the door.

"Punk, wait." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Hm?" he asked, hand resting on the doorknob as he looked at me over his shoulder.

"Can- Could you… Maybe stay here a bit longer… I mean… Just until I fall asleep…?" I could hardly believe the words had come out of my mouth, but it was too late to take them back.

He blinked at me slowly, seeming to weigh the options in his head. "Sure." He said finally, making his way back over to the bed and moving to the other side of it. He climbed in under the covers and leaned up against the headboard and motioned for me to join him. I nodded slowly, moving into the bed and positioning myself under the sheets. I leaned back against the pillow and slowly, timidly, let myself lean up against his chest.

I sighed softly, he smelled like laundry detergent and cologne. Crisp and clean. I took a deep breath and let my eyes close slowly. "Good night Phil."

"Goodnight Charlotte. Sweet dreams."

Silence.

"Phil?"

"Yeah."

"Can I kiss you?"

More silence.

I moved to sit up, slowly as to not lose my balance completely, and looked at him, blinking heavy lids.

He looked back at me and smiled softly, "Will a kiss get you to lay back down and get the rest you need?"

My head nodded, a little too fast for my vision as his face blurred, but he came back into focus shortly after.

He nodded as well and leaned forward. I closed my eyes just in time to feel his lips catch mine softly, lightly, lovingly? It made my heart flutter inside my chest. It felt like we stayed that way forever, but I'm sure that was just the alcohol slowing the world around me.

He pulled away, brushing a strand of my hair from my face. "Lay down." He said softly, leaning back against the headboard once more. I nodded slowly, moving back to my previous position, head buried into his shirt.

He smelled like laundry detergent and cologne… Didn't I say that already…?

I felt a pair of lips lightly touch the top of my head but before I could register the words that I was hearing, I slipped into unconsciousness for the umpteenth time that evening.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey there everybody! I went on a writing spree yesterday so I'm far enough ahead that I'm going to go ahead and update again today! :) Aren't you a lucky bunch? hehe.**

**I'm just kidding. But really, I hope you guys are enjoying it! I LOVE getting your reviews and hearing what you think!**

**These next few chapters, things start heating up a bit as far as the plot goes, so I hope you guys really start to enjoy it!**

**OH! Also, I know sometimes there are a few typos. I DO proof read my chapters like three times but when it's little things, I tend to just skim over them when I'm reading so I'm really sorry for all of those little things! Thank you for baring with me!**

**Love you guys! Enjoy chapter ten!**

**-Kelsey**

**EDIT:**

**AH! I accidentally posted chapters 11 and 12 so, if anyone was actually online and read them before I realized it and took them down, you got lucky! Haha!  
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CH 10

"EVEN THROUGH THE DARKEST DAYS THIS FIRE BURNS ALWAYS THIS FIRE BURNS ALWAYS"

"Oh for the love of God, shut up!" The sound of my phone blared through my hotel room. Hangover, plus Killswitch Engage first thing in the morning? Yeah, no thanks. I rolled over and stood, walking to my purse which was sitting on the table. I scrolled the bar across the screen of my iPhone, "Hello?"

"Hey Charlie, how ya doing?" Eve's voice asked softly.

I groaned into the phone, making my way back to sit on the edge of the bed. "I feel like death…" I mumbled, running a hand through my hair before laying back down, cuddling into the sheets with a sigh, "What's up?"

"AJ and I are going shopping, we thought…"

"You're going to buy me new work stuff, aren't you?" I asked, rubbing my eyes and wiping the excess make-up from the previous night away.

"And a few outfits just for being cute, but yes." I could hear her smiling over the phone.

I rolled over in search of the clock, "What time is it anywa—" My eyes were suddenly wide. "Hey Eve… I'm uh… I'm gonna have to call you back in just a second…" I hung up the phone before she could answer.

"This Fire Burns? Really?" CM Punk had his arms over his chest as he leaned back into the pillows of MY bed.

"Wha- What are you doing in my bed? What are you doing in my room?" I asked, pulling the blankets up around my chest, though I was clothed. I then blinked down at my pajamas, "How did I get in these?" I stared at him, brows knit together in confusion and worry. "What did you do?"

Punk merely laughed at me and yawned, making himself comfortable amongst my sheets, "You don't remember much from last night do you?" he asked, stretching now and chuckling as he watched my eyes grow wide with fear. "Don't worry." He reassured me, though I could have sworn I saw a flash of something in those hazel eyes. He pulled back the covers to show that he was still in the clothes he'd been in when we'd gone out last night.

I let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank God…" I said softly. I looked to my bedside table to set my phone down and blinked. There was a cup and a package of Tylenol. I turned to look at him and he smiled at me.

"I thought you might need it."

I nodded slowly at him and took the pills gratefully before turning back in the bed to look at him, still feeling slightly perplexed. "So… nothing happened…?"

He raised an eyebrow at me, "I'm straight edge, remember? Promiscuous sex is a no-no."

Blood rushed to my cheeks and I laughed awkwardly, "Right…" I cleared my throat and stood up, "Well, I'm uh… Shower."

I cursed in my head as I grabbed clothes from my suitcase on my way to the bathroom. It would be nice if I could find the time in my busy schedule to actually form full sentences when I was in his presence, that'd be awesome.

I shut the door behind me and heard the tumbler lock. Leaning up against it, I tossed my clean clothes into the sink before turning around to look at my reflection in the mirror. I frowned, I'd had worse mornings, but never with a man that I was interested in sitting in my bed upon waking. Well, nothing I could do now, what was done, was done. It was just time for damage control now.

The water was warm as I stepped into the hotel shower, sighing at the sweet relief it gave to my pounding hung-over head. I shampooed my hair and washed my body, grabbing the towel folded neatly on the towel wrack and stepping into the lightly steamed room.

My mind was elsewhere, buzzing with thoughts as I went through the motions of putting on my clothes. More torn jeans, but today a simple grey V-neck to completely the look, I could try my hand at not being quite so shabby. I wiped the mirror free of steam and scrunched up my nose. My hair was a tangled mess, not that this was new to me at all. I'd leave it for last. I grabbed the make-up bag from the counter and applied base and eyeliner, the only two things I really ever used. I peered at my reflection, nodding to myself before brushing my teeth. Once I was done with this I unlocked the door and made my way back out into the hotel room.

My brows furrowed as my eyes landed on the man who was still calming lying in my bed. "You're still here?" I asked, feet stumbling their way towards the table to grab a hair tie. We locked eyes as I pulled my mess of hair into a somewhat contained bun at the back of my head.

"I wasn't aware I was supposed to leave." Punk said easily as he sat up, peeling the covers off of his body as he stretched, before swinging his legs over the edge of the mattress. I could do nothing more than stare at him.

"Y-you're not… I mean… You don't have to…" Seriously, Charlie? Learn to talk…

He grinned at me, but something seemed different this morning. It wasn't the normal smirk that he threw at me, coupled with sarcastic remarks and teasing insults. His eyes were different but… I couldn't explain how…

"I'll get out of your hair." With that he stood up, stretching once more and walked around the bed. His eyes didn't leave mine for a second as I went to grab my phone and shoved it into my pocket. The loss of eye contact was entirely my fault as I fumbled around inside the tiny handbag I'd taken to the club last night for my wallet. Upon finding it, I shoved it into my back pocket and looked back towards him.

Punk was still eyeing me with that grin...

"Are you… Are you sure nothing happened last night?" My tone must have sounded accusatory because he put a hand to his chest and forced a false frown.

"Charlie, I am just HURT that you would think I would lie to you!" There was the normal smirk, the one I was used to, the one that didn't make my heart race. Well… In all honesty, it did, but it didn't make me nearly as nervous as the smile I'd been receiving before.

I forced a laugh and nodded, "Right. Because you're always such a little angel." My eyes rolled as I reached for the door knob, unlocking the inside latch. I felt something behind me, a hand against my ass and fingers in my pocket.

I knew my eyes must have been the size of saucers as I turned, forcing my face mere inches from Punk's. My chest was heaving with shortened breath and I did nothing but stare at him for a moment. That smile again…

"Thought you might need your room key for when you go out." With that, he side stepped me and opened the door, making his way out of the room, the latch of the door clicking before I could even turn to blink at his movement.

"What the fuck just happened…?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Alright, here's chapter 11. This time I'm uploading it on purpose! Haha!**

**I hope you guys enjoy! 13 is where things really start picking up, so excuse this and the next chapter for being partially filler, but I needed it for the plot!**

CH 11

"You said clothes, you said nothing about my hair!" I was all by clawing my way backwards against AJ and Eve, who were pushing me towards the salon inside the arena of the show we were set to do tonight.

"Listen, we trust these girls with OUR hair, they won't do you wrong, okay?" AJ was trying to calm me down.

Over the course of the day the two women had taken me shopping. I had expected to get their advice and buy a few things of my own. No, no. What they had planned for me had been an entire make over. I had to be happy because they at least let me keep a BIT of my tomboy side. I now had three new pairs of skinny jeans and various colored deep v-necks, a ramones t-shirt that they agreed to let me butcher to my liking, a pair of flat souled knee high boots. That was for my casual wear. They'd also set me up for work with the fitted black slacks, the grey pencil skirt, my four different chiffon and silk blouses and the- all be it fantastic- light grey blazer.

All of that I had been prepared for, what I wasn't prepared for was the tea-length pin-up dress, or the skirts, the three pairs of heels and… Dare I say it… The lingerie. Both women had pleaded with me on that one, not that I'd had any choice when they shoved me into a Victoria's Secret dressing room with an array of lacy, frilly bras and underwear.

"Having something sexy underneath just makes you feel that much more confident!" AJ had insisted.

So here I was, being shoved into a chair in the salon, instructions being given to the stylists about the rats nest I called hair sitting a-top my head, and praying to God they didn't make me look like a fool.

I did my best to tune them both out as they chattered away with their stylist friends, but the words "blonde", "buzz", and "straight" caught my attention.

They must have seen the look on my face, because as the stylist spun my chair away from the mirror, Eve took a moment to pat me on the top of the head. "You're going to look fabulous." She assured me.

"Yeah… If I'm not bald first…" I retorted, though the two women simply rolled their eyes and headed towards the door. "Wai- Where are you going?"

"We have a show to do, we'll be back once we've gotten ready!" Eve called over her shoulder as the two women disappeared from view.

I gave a helpless look up at the stylist who smiled warmly back at me, "You're in good hands, hun, I'll fix you up good."

_What I didn't know at the time was the meeting that was taking place in the women's locker room just down the hall from where my transformation was taking place._

"Sorry we're late guys, Charlie was a little upset about our haircut idea." AJ apologized as she walked into the locker room. She and Eve were welcomed by a large group of people gathered all around the room on the wooden benches and folding chairs provided.

"So is everyone here?" Eve asked, looking at all of them and taking a mental count. Quite a bit of the roster had gathered for their impromptu meeting. John Cena, Evan Bourne, Randy Orton, Kelly Kelly, Kaitlyn, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Triple H, Shaemus, Vicki Guerrero, the Undertaker, and of course, CM Punk were a few that were in the ranks.

"Alright," Beth stood from the crowd, "Some of you know that Charlie's birthday is next week. Everyone knows Charlie, right?"

"Our adorable new photographer," Vicki chimed in, "Yes." She smiled and the rest of the group chuckled in agreement.

"So we're planning a surprise party for her, we should be in…" Eve pulled out her phone to check her calendar, "Boston. It'll be a Tuesday, so don't run off to the next city after Raw." She finished her sentence, stuffing her phone back into the pocket of her shorts. "Now, we've got everything planned out as far as time and place, we just need help with decorations, food and… Well… We're not entirely sure what we're going to do with her while we set everything up."

"I think you all know that Charlie's not one for dressing up unless she has to," AJ started and Beth and Barbie both broke into giggles, "So we need to have her doing SOMETHING that calls for her to dress up and to get her where we need her by 10. So, any ideas?"

The room lit up in a low murmur as its occupants discussed different ideas. "A meeting?"

"No, that'd be too office-y, this is a party."

"Hm… So what about a date?"

The room grew quiet as everyone's eyes went to CM Punk, who was sitting with is elbows on his knees, hands clasped together with a look of satisfaction on his face.

AJ bit at her lip for a moment as she thought the idea over, "You know, that actually sounds perfect!"

"BUT, who's going to take her?" Eve pointed out, leaving the group in disappointment once again.

"I could do it."

All eyes were now on Mike "the Miz" Mizanin.

"She and I are friends, I could casually bring up her birthday and offer to take her out." He said, his words trailing with silence as this option was considered.

"Perfect!" AJ and Eve said in unison, causing the whole room to bustle with conversation again.

The meeting went on with a few more details before everyone stood to leave, making sure they knew the date, time and place as they filed out the door. All of the members of the secret meeting seemed pleased with what they'd come up with. All but one. CM Punk looked all but enraged as he made his way through the door and towards the men's locker room across the hall, the door slamming behind him as he disappeared to get ready for the evening's show.


	12. Chapter 12

**On a writing spree today! You guys are lucky! :)**

CH 12

So much hair… There was so much hair on the floor… And she wasn't done, either. My heart nearly stopped when I heard the buzz of an electric clipper. As it neared the left side of my head, my eyes clamped shut as my heart rate sped up.

My eyes remained closed for the remainder of the haircut, my stomach dropping as I felt the cool of the air against one side of my head. When I finally got a hold of my bravery and opened my eyes, the stylist was grinning at me. "You rock this." She said as she spun my chair around to face the mirror.

I squinted, anticipating the blow, but was surprised with what I came face to face with. My hair had be cropped up to my shoulders in nice, chunky layers. I now had frosty blonde streaks running through the layered locks and, well, the left side of my head had about a quarter of an inch left of hair. I thought I'd hate it. I thought I would be livid and have to go postal on AJ and Eve, but I found myself smiling. "Wow…"

With that, I hugged the stylist and left the salon, making my way to the locker room. When I got there, it was deserted. It seemed a bit odd, but I brushed it off as I went to change into one of my new work outfits.

Moments later, I was adorned in my slacks, a sapphire chiffon wrap tank and, after a war with my inner Beth, a pair of accenting silver pumps. What were these women doing to me?

After a smile in the mirror, I grabbed my camera and headed out. The halls seemed oddly quiet, but soon I hit the monitor bank, finding most of the roster gathered there. As well as I could with my clicking heels, I snuck my way up behind a group of familiar people.

"So I guess I won't have to kill you guys after all." I laughed, placing a hand on AJ's shoulder. She whirled around with me, as did Eve, Barbie and John Cena. The girls squealed.

"Oh my God, I almost didn't recognize you!"

"Holy crap, you look so fabulous!"

"You even wore heels! Look at you!"

"Lookin' good Charlie."

I laughed at the reactions, reaching a hand up to the left side of my head and rubbing the soft peach fuzz, I grinned, "I thought I'd be mad but, I really kind of love it." I admitted, noticing that I was gathering quite a bit of attention from the others gathered around the monitors.

I waved to a few people, shrugged off the girls and John and made my way over to the person who had been on my mind all day.

Punk had his back turned to me, leaning against a wall as he watched the screen in front of him. The tech crews were setting up, testing lighting and what not, leaving for a fairly boring camera angle; which was partially why I couldn't figure out why there were so many people gathered here. Had I missed something? That was beside the point.

"So about this morning…"

He barely turned to look at me, he seemed fairly perturbed, but his face lit up when he realized it was me. "Wow." His eyebrows shot up on his forehead and he let out a soft chuckle, "Look at you all polished and cleaned up."

I felt the heat creep up my face, but I refused to allow the embarrassment to go any farther. "I'll take that as a compliment." There we go, full sentences AND a sense of humor! Go me!

Shaking his head, he turned his body towards me a bit more, arms crossed over his chest. He was in his ring gear already which meant I was looking at the muscles bulging under the fabric of his best in the world t-shirt and the long expanse of bare leg that his trunks gave way to. When my eyes made their journey back up to his face, he had a crooked smile stretched across his features. I really needed to learn how to not make checking him out so damn obvious.

My teeth found my lip ring and immediately sucked it into my mouth nervously. He imitated me and did the same with his own and I felt my heart start to race. I shook my head, taking in the odd sensation of hair swirling about my head only on one side, and cleared my throat. "So about this morning." I stated again.

"Oh!" He seemed to have remembered something, "Yeah, about that." So he was actually going to acknowledge it! "How's your head?"

Or maybe not… "Uhm. It's fine. The Tylenol this morning really helped." I admitted, watching him smile satisfactorily, "Thank you, by the way. You know, for uh… Taking care of me, but, why exactly were you in my room?" I asked slowly.

Punk laughed at this and I was more than aware that the look on my face was pure confusion. "First, answer this; Up to what point do you remember from last night?"

That was a fairly good question. I took a moment to think back on the evening before. A few things blurred through my mind that I couldn't exactly piece together. I wasn't sure if I'd been dreaming all of it or not. The locker room, being carried, the _incident _from just a few months ago, the shedding of clothes, a kiss… That was most definitely an alcohol induced dream. I felt my cheeks flush pink again as I pushed the thought from my mind and conjured up the last full memory I had. "I think that last thing I remember in its entirety is dancing with… Well with you."

He gave a kind smile and a nod, "Okay, so what you're forgetting is you passing out in the middle of the club, me carrying you back to the arena, getting your things, taking you to the hotel and staying with you to make sure you were alright." he said this all as though it should have been obvious.

Okay, so the locker room and being carried were all real. Good to know. At least I hadn't lost my mind entirely.


	13. Chapter 13

**I just had to update ONE MORE time today because I just love this chapter! :D**

**Enjoy!**

CH 13

By the time Friday night Smackdown had rolled around, I had garnered myself quite a bit of attention. More and more of the men backstage had taken to talking to me at random and I'd even heard rumors of my picture on wrestling websites. "Who is this mystery photographer?" "A new face in the WWE tech team. A face that is turning heads."

I just had to laugh at the headlines, I really wasn't THAT new. But I suppose when you see some frizzy haired girl in ratty slacks and a polo and then you see a girl in a blazer and heels with new hair, it catches your eye.

Still, what surprised me most was just how much time I was beginning to spend with a certain straight edge friend of mine. Sure, Punk had been following me around before, but just for shits and giggles. I mean, that's what I thought. But this week he'd been with me almost all of the time. We would walk around the arena, take backstage pictures, catch lunch, I even let him try out my camera a couple of times. We were getting kind of close I guess, but our conversations together hadn't exactly gone on unnoticed.

If you've ever been to a big event; concert, comedy show, wrestling event, whatever, you know that music can get quite loud. Well, when you're standing right at the bottom of a ramp, near pyrotechnics and speakers, things get even louder. So, for Punk and I to speak well enough to hear each other, we tend to have to get really close, you know how it is. You have to act like you're whispering but practically yell for them to actually hear you? Like that.

Well, obviously with that being said and us talking quite a bit during shows, we stand fairly close to each other, and… Rumor mills just never seem to sleep.

Knowing this now brings us up to speed with that evenings happening. I was currently in the Divas locker room after having gotten dressed. My pencil skirt today with a lavender silk button up, the top two button undone to reveal my chest and the slightest of cleavage. Might as well, right? I was holding my cell phone up so that AJ could see the screen, she was curling my unshaved hair, "Have you seen this?"

I had an article pulled up, a large picture of me laughing and Punk's face in my ear. He had been telling me a joke, but the headline read "New WWE photographer has CM Punk looking through a narrow lens."

AJ scanned the article for a moment and I had to snap my fingers as my hair started steaming in the curling iron. She dropped the lock and looked at the screen a bit longer and then let out a laugh.

"How is this funny?" I asked, getting up after she carefully set the curler down. I ran a hand through my hair to separate the curls before turning back to her.

"Everyone thinks you and Punk are dating, how is it NOT funny?" She laughed, moving to change into a mini-dress. She didn't have a match this evening but she had to look good just in case they got a shot of her backstage.

"Because everyone thinks Punk and I are dating!" I said, exasperated. I could not for the life of me see how this was even remotely amusing!

She giggled again, "What's the big deal about it? You're friends right?" AJ pulled her dress on and sat on the bench beside her to put her heels on.

That was a loaded question, "Well… Yeah, of course we are." I said. Blinking at her, I made my way to my bag and grabbed my camera, a slight pout on my face as I thought over her question again. Were we friends? Yes. We were definitely more than acquaintances. But ever since Tuesday morning he'd been surprisingly touchy. I mean, it wasn't like he had been touching my ass again after that, but there seemed to be a lingering in his hands when we hugged. I would catch him gazing at me from the corner of my eyes as I took photos of other superstars. We spent almost all of our meals together. He almost always waited for me outside the locker room. Of course we were friends, but this lead me to think that maybe, just maybe something else was developing.

"You didn't hear a word I just said, did you?"

I blinked over at AJ, eyes wide in surprise. "Huh?"

She laughed and shook her head, "Just take it for what it is. As long as you're single it's not like it's hurting anyone for people to think what they want right?" I nodded slowly and she patted me on the back. "I'm on my way to hair and make-up." With that she made her way out the door and I was left staring after her. There, in the opening I'd seen as she'd left had been the face that I couldn't get out of my mind's eye.

I couldn't help it as a smile tugged at the corners of my lips and I felt a little hop in my step as I hurried outside to him, the hard plastic of my heels clicking against the concrete in a fairly quick rhythm. I pushed open the door with my shoulder, both hands holding my camera carefully so that it wouldn't bounce against my chest. I blinked up as I realized there was a hand holding the door open for me.

"I like the curls."

I laughed, reaching a hand up to push my bangs from my face, "Thanks. I figured a change would be nice."

Punk grinned at me as we both set off for refreshments. We liked to grab a snack and something to drink before shows started. I watched him carefully as he was walking and felt a genuine smile cross my face, "You're not limping."

It seemed as though I took him out of a thought and he nodded, "Yeah, my knee's doing great. I had a meeting earlier-"

"Is that why you couldn't do lunch today?"

"Exactly." He smiled, "So guess what."

"Hm?" We made it to the refreshments table where a few people were milling around. I waved at Evan and Kofi who were discussing a match they had later that evening and Kofi then said something that caused his partner to chuckle. I blinked at them for a moment before turning back to my friend, grabbing a bottle of water.

"I'm back on Raw on Monday."

"Oh my God, are you wrestling already?" I asked, face contorted with worry, "Because I thought you said that the doctor told you at LEAST another week!"

Punk laughed and put a gentle hand on my shoulder, leaving it there as he spoke, the warmth from his skin seeping through the light fabric of my shirt. It made my stomach flip nervously. "It's just a promo, calm yourself."

I let out a laugh, one that I'm sure relayed the butterflies I was feeling, as he finally let his hand fall back down to his side. "Are you excited?"

Now he laughed, leaning back against the table we were standing next to, "You have no idea. As much as I love following you and that camera of yours around, my place is inside that ring."

His passion for wrestling was remarkable. "It's a good thing, 'cause it's a lot more fun to take pictures of you than to answer your questions." I told him, picking my camera up to snap a candid shot of him before he could refuse.

Punk gave me a fake scowl and I grinned, taking a sip of my water as we were joined by another friend.

"Hey guys." The Miz was in a suit, ready for some sort of business meeting it seemed. The blue of the pinstripes and the matching tie made those eyes of his pop. I couldn't deny that he looked handsome.

"Hi Mike" I greeted him with a smile and a hug and Punk simply replied with a flat "hey".

"So, a little birdy told me that it's your birthday next Tuesday." Mike told me with a charming smile.

I laughed, noticing Punk shift uncomfortably next to me, "Let me guess, that little birdy's name was either Beth, AJ, Barbie or Eve."

"Actually, the birdy's name was John Cena, but the birdy that told HIM was named Beth." He joked.

I had to smile, I couldn't honestly expect the girls not to go spreading the word. "Well, your birdies are right, my birthday's coming up." I told him, noting the time that was being called by one of the tech's who walked by. I looked away from him and down to my camera, beginning to mess with the settings and checking the memory. "But what point are you trying to make? We'll be either in Boston or on our way to the next stop. If you want an invite to the party I'm throwing myself, I'm not having out." I let out a laugh, but there was a hint of sadness to it. This would be the first birthday that I didn't travel back home to Texas to spend with my family. It was a bit of a tradition. No matter where we all were, we would travel to one place to celebrate birthdays. Of course, my family understood that with my new job, I wouldn't be present at our little gatherings, but it saddened me to think of blowing out a candle in a cupcake in my hotel room.

Mike let out a low chuckle and shook his head, "Actually, I was going to ask you if… Well, if maybe you wanted to grab dinner with me on Tuesday night. As my birthday present to you."

My head popped up and I met his eyes. Was he for real? "Where? On the plane?" I asked, "I thought you were leaving early."

He shook his head once more, a smile crossing his face that I had to admit, stopped my heart a bit. "No, I was thinking we could stay in Boston after Raw, go to dinner Tuesday night and then fly out Wednesday morning. We could be flight buddies."

I couldn't help but laugh at this, "Seriously, did Eve put you up to this? Because I can go tell her that she needs to leave you alone. I'll be fine spending my birthday by myself." I looked over to Punk, expecting him to laugh along with me, but his mood had turned sour and he did no more than give me a shrug.

"Charlie, you've been here three months, how long is it going to take for you to realize that you've made more friends than just the girls?" Mike asked, placing a hand on my shoulder as Punk had done earlier.

I blinked up at him slowly "So you're serious about this?" I asked slowly.

He nodded at me and offered a smile, "It'll be like a date."

My cheeks burned with color and I laughed, "I… Okay, I guess."

Mike grinned, pulling me into a hug and I felt my heart speed up suddenly, a date? "I'll let you know the details when I get it all figured out." He said, releasing me, patting Punk on the back and retreating from sight.

I too, cast a look at Punk, laughing nervously, "Well that was interesting." I said, still a bit frazzled. He looked at me with a less than happy look on his face. My heart sank slowly in my chest as I looked at him. "Did I do something?" I asked slowly, taking a step closer to him and lowering my voice.

"Nope." He gave me another half angry, half devastated sort of look, "Not a damn thing." With that, he grabbed a can of Pepsi from the table and walked off without so much as another look back at me.


	14. Chapter 14

**HEY GUYS. GUYS GUESS WHAT.**

**MY BOYFRIEND DOESN'T HAVE CANCER. IT'S JUST A FREAKING BONE CYST.  
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**HERE. HAVE A CHAPTER OR FIVE TO CELEBRATE. I'M GONNA GO DANCE IN MY LIVING ROOM NOW.**

CH 14

Punk stayed mad at me all weekend. I tried to take him out for dinner Saturday night and he wouldn't even answer my text. I called his phone for breakfast on Sunday. No answer. I had all but lost hope when he approached me Monday night before the show.

He came up behind me, laying a hand lightly on my shoulder. When I spun around, I couldn't help the surprise that I felt at seeing just who it was. "Hey."

Despite my excitement at seeing him, my eyes held anger at having been ignored and then treated as if nothing had happened. "What do you want?"

It was Punk's turn to show surprise before his brow furrowed into a line of concern. He bit at the ring in his lip and I forced myself not to stare at the action the way that I normally would have. "You're mad I didn't talk to you all weekend, huh?" he asked with a frown, seeming to notice my self-control.

"You think?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. I was camera-less this evening. They'd decided to give me the evening off because of my birthday being tomorrow and all. I was going to watch the event from ring-side! I'd been a wrestling fan all my life but never had the opportunity to be against a barrier, so I was pretty stoked to say the least.

He sighed, running a hand over his gelled hair. He was in his ring gear, ready for his promo. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"It's not the apology I want, Phil." He flinched at the name. He knew I was pissed. "It's the explanation of why I got the silent treatment in the first place."

He was noticeably uncomfortable, "I… It's not like you really did anything I just… Needed some space?" he tried.

I raised an eyebrow. I was so not buying anything less than a real reason.

"Look, I was just upset."

"Okay, I get that, I'm not stupid, Punk. Spill it. What the hell did I do to suddenly get on your shit list?"

His eyes grew wide, "Nothing!" he spat out, "Look, Charlie, I-" his eyes darted around. We were alone. He'd caught me coming back from tech, making sure they didn't need me for the evening.

"What?" I was losing patience.

His hands reached up to grab my face and before I could react, his lips were on mine. My whole body froze. What on earth? I felt myself leaning into him lightly before he pulled away, our faces inches from each other. "I got jealous, okay? Can we just leave it at that for right now? I have a promo to psyche myself up for and I can't do that with you mad at me. So I'm going to kiss you again and then I'm going to turn around and walk away. You're going to wait until I walk away and then you're going to go out to your seat and I'll see you when I'm in the ring. Yeah?" I nodded my head between his hands and he smiled, pulling my lips to his own once more. This time I had just enough warning to be able to kiss him back, allowing him to feel the pressure of my lips, letting him know I wasn't exactly hating this. He pulled away, making eye contact with me before he smiled, "Stay."

I nodded silently once more and watched his retreating figure intently. His backside was perfect. He disappeared around a corner and I stood there for a moment longer, heart rate slowing as I tried to wrap my brain around what had just happened.

_As I made my way to my front row seat, backstage two men were having an argument over a subject that I wasn't even aware was a problem._

"Hey there Mikey, can I have a little chat with you?" Punk draped his arm around the younger man.

Mike blinked slowly but followed as he was being steered away and out of the locker room into the quiet hallway. "What's up?"

Punk crossed his arms over his chest, "You're really going through with this date with Charlie tomorrow night?" he asked, the look on his face deadly serious.

Mike raised an eyebrow, "Uh… Yeah?" he said, not quite understanding the question. "It helps with the party, not to mention, it's her birthday, she deserves something nice."

The tattooed man felt his nostrils flair, "Listen, Mike, you're a nice guy. I like you. But word around the locker room has it you don't have the best track record with women. Not as far as legit dating goes."

So this is where this was all going. "Listen, if you're here to tell me I can't take her out, I'm afraid you're taking this up with the wrong person."

Punk let out an agitated sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, "No, no, I'm taking this up with the perfect person. Here's the deal. You behave like a perfect gentleman. If she tells me that you so much as _looked_ at her in an inappropriate way, I will break that pretty face of yours. Got it?"

Mike's eyebrows raised, "Really dude, really? Cool it. She's not your property and she's obviously not someone you think of as a sister. It's been decided. I'm taking her on a date. I'm going to show her a good time. And you can bet your ass that I'm going to do that in whatever way my 'pretty face' sees fit. Got it?" he was in Punk's face now.

The other man pushed forward, forcing Miz to back up slightly, "You'd do well to listen to your elders. I will chew you up and spit you out. In or out of the ring. Don't step out of line with her. That's the only warning you'll fucking get." This was not a suggestion or a piece of advice, it was most definitely and obviously a threat.

Punk shoved past Mike with his shoulder, forcing the other man to stumble slightly. The straight edger made his way backstage behind the entrance to the ramp, hearing the starting pyro and simply waiting for his music to cue up. He didn't need to get pumped for this. He was pissed and he did some of his best smack talking when he was angry. He'd certainly be able to "play the part" of being pissed at the Miz and wanting to kick his ass. He knew that much. This promo would be the easiest he'd done in ages.


	15. Chapter 15

**SO PUNK JUST WON THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP AND I THINK IT'S COMPLETELY APPROPRIATE TO POST A CHAPTER TO CELEBRATE.**

**Also, in my demented little mind, I'm planning on writing a little oneshot of Charlie and Punk's "celebration". I'll be writing it for me and a friend of mine, but if anyone would be interested in reading it, just let me know. :)**

**And again:**

**PUNK IS A BEAST. HE WON. HE'S AMAZING. ALSKDJGLAKJSDKFJASLDKGJA EXCUSE ME AS I CELEBRATE BY DANCING AROUND MY LIVING ROOM ONCE MORE IN MY PAJAMAS.**

CH 15

It was odd seeing Monday night Raw from the perspective of a fan after working as a photographer for three months. I had to force myself not to say anything about the cueing of the pyrotechnics, or my anger at the idiot photographer they had to replace me for the evening. Almost got his hair burnt off. Dumb ass.

All of that changed when I heard static crackling and a familiar guitar riff. I'm pretty sure I screamed louder than anyone in the entire arena as Punk made his way down the ramp. I had to admit I was a bit embarrassed that I'd adorned myself in my Best in the World t-shirt, but all in all, I was a fan.

When he'd made his way to the ring, he caught my eyes and gave me a small smirk. Not his normal smile, of course. He never let the camera see that smile, but it was good to know that he'd seen me. He climbed in through the ropes and began on some tirade about people paying their dues in the business. I was too busy reaching down for my camera to pay attention. Sure, I wasn't on duty, but that only meant that instead of taking the pictures the company wanted, I got to take the pictures that I wanted. Considering that I was in view of the television cameras, I was left with a pretty good shot of Punk's backside. My camera, my money, MY birthday. I grinned to myself as I lined up the shot, but had only captured one frame when more music cued up and Mike's voice rang through the stadium.

"Awwwwwesoooooome."

How had I forgotten to ask what exactly the promo was about…?

Mike made it to the ring and started off without hesitation. "Really? Really? Really?" the crowd chanted back at him and I had to admit, it was fun to be a part of it for once. "Have you ever stopped to think that maybe, just MAYBE those of us who 'didn't pay our dues' got that opportunity by just having, I dunno, pure talent?" The crowd booed furiously and I could see something switch on Punk's face.

"You know, it's so funny that you're the one that decided to speak up about this Miz, because, you're exactly the person that I was referring to in my little tirade back there." His voice was barely on the playful side of angry. I moved my camera away from my eye to get a better look at both of my friends. "See, I don't think it has anything to do with talent. I think the only thing it has to do with is LUCK and a pretty face. And you know what I think? I think luck is for losers."

The crowd cheered. It was common knowledge that he had a tattoo with just that saying on it, and the girls around me were just about dying in excitement that they understood the reference. I set my camera back down, rolling my eyes and moving to lean against the barricade on my elbows.

I watched as something clicked in Mike's eyes as well and my stomach knotted. Something didn't seem quite normal about all of this. "Losers, huh? Well, you know what I think, Punk? I think you're jealous. I think you're jealous that you didn't have what it takes to make it straight to the big time, and I think you're jealous because you don't have my pretty face." The crowd's reaction was a mixture of booing and girls screaming their approval of Mike's very pretty face.

Punk's eyes darkened, "No, it just so happens that I worked my ass off, from the bottom up. I have enough respect for the people I work with," his eyes shot sideways to me and I felt my own eyes widen as he turned back to his bickering opponent, "and this business to start at the bottom where all of the other legends started. I had a love for what I did, I didn't have to ride the coat tails of TWO reality T.V. shows or my drunken alter ego."

"Don't start on your straight edge rant-"

"Oh this has nothing to do with straight edge, Miz, this had everything to do with the fact that I'm tired of you walking around being so 'awesome'. You think you're such a big deal. I have news for you, buddy, you're not. You think you own the locker room. Well guess what, you don't. You're not the hot stuff you think you are. And I, for one, have had enough of your ego, and enough of your attitude. You have no respect for your co-workers," again, he shot a glance at me and this time, Mike did too, "And you have no respect for the work we've put into this profession and I'd venture to say I'm not the only on who's tired of it."

Those last words seemed to hold a lot more than they did to most others in the audience.

"So other than sitting out here and whining," a pause for a reaction from the crowd and for Mike to make a crying motion with his fists, "What's your point?" he asked, a smug expression on his face, "I mean, you seem to think you're putting together such a great debate, but I don't see anyone else standing behind you on it. As a matter of fact," he pointed to a group of girls all in their Miz t-shirts and posters confessing their love, "I think a lot of people feel quite the opposite."

"My point," Punk cut him off before he could speak again and Mike was visibly annoyed with this, "Is that I'm going to put an end to it."

"Why? It's not like I have anything you want." Both men's eyes darted to me. What the hell did I have to do with any of this?

I could see the tattooed man bite his tongue for a moment before speaking, "You know, you're right. You don't have anything I want. You don't have a title to strut around with, and that's what pisses me off so badly. You don't even have anything of worth and yet you still think you're top dog around here. But you know what dogs do at my house, Miz? They sleep at the foot of the bed. They do what I say, when I say it and if they don't, they answer," he stepped up into the other man's face, "To me."

Both men squared their shoulders and as they dropped their mics on the mat, I could see them mouthing things to each other. Mike said something and I saw Punk's arms tighten up, he spoke back with a snap and pushed the younger man on the shoulder. Mike spat something back at him and his elder laughed at him. He stood very still then and I saw his lips move, slowly and deliberately before Mike swung back and laid a punch square into his jaw.


	16. Chapter 16

**Alright guys, sorry for the delay in updates, but you know how the holidays are. Here's 16~**

**Also, for those of you interested in Charlie and Punk's oneshot celebration, it's currently in the works! :)**

CH 16

To any other fan, it would have looked like the end of a normal promo as Mike watched Punk stumble backwards and blood spring from his now busted lip and make his way from the ring back up the ramp. But what I saw was entirely different. It wasn't a staged punch. I could tell that by the faces of the crew around the ring and also by the sickening noise of flesh on flesh. It was a real punch and from the looks of it, one with a lot of power behind it.

I watched as Punk grabbed a towel from a trainer and trudged his way, wounded and angry backstage. I grabbed my things, making my way out of the arena and forcing my ticket randomly into the hands of a stranger before running outside. The cool night air hit me as I literally sprinted all the way around to the opposite side of the building where the staff entrance was.

As I made my way inside I heard the commotion before I saw it. Just around the corner, was a large group of people and in the middle of it were Punk and Mike. I dashed over, pushing my way through the people watching and also the people trying to tear the two men off of each other.

I put both hands on Mike's chest and shoved, to no avail and then turned my attention to Punk.

"Stop it!" I grabbed one of his arms, tugging at it. He yanked it away from me and I stumbled at the force of it but went to his back and tried to pry him away from the other man, "Punk! Knock it off!" He squirmed his way out of my grasp and the next time I grabbed at his shoulder, shouting "PHIL!" he let go of Mike and slapped me, leaving a nice red hand print on my left cheek.

Everything froze.

I stood there with a hand on my face in a desperate attempt to ease the stinging pain, tears in my eyes simply from the force of the blow.

"Charlie…" He started and I held my other hand up.

"You didn't know it was me." My voice was calm and slow, though I wanted to cry, "I get that. Someone was trying to stop your fight and you weren't having any of it. I know." I wouldn't look at him. Couldn't. "But now that you're both done acting like idiots, does someone want to explain to me what the fuck is going on?"

"It's my fault." Mike stated and I looked up at him. Those blue eyes held a world of remorse. "Punk said something and I lost my temper. I shouldn't have hit him, I wasn't supposed to. He got pissed and he has every right to."

"You're damn right I do-" Punk started in and I held another hand up.

"Shut your fucking mouth."

Both men stared at me now, eyes wide.

"If your mouth got you into this, I think it's a pretty good idea to keep the damn this closed for the rest of the night, don't you?" I finally looked up at him and even through the swelling of his lip, I could see he was truly sorry. He nodded slowly. "I want you to apologize to each other. I'm going to the locker room to wash my face. I'm going to come back out and Punk," I looked up at him again, "You're going to be cleaned up and ready to leave. You," now I looked at Mike, "need to get your shit together and call it a night. Go to the hotel, get some rest, I will see you tomorrow." I took a deep breath, able to feel the forming of a bruise on my cheek, "If I hear anything, or come back out here and you're fighting again, we're going to have problems." I turned, about to walk away when tears stung my eyes and I turned over my shoulder to make eye contact with both of them, "And keep in mind that my birthday is tomorrow. Maybe that'll give at least ONE of you a slight sense of self control."

With that I stalked off, letting tears stream down my face, and by the time I walked into the divas locker room where all of my friends were standing around, waiting for their matches or what have you, I let out a loud "FUCK!" as the door slammed behind me.

Eve looked up from the book she had been reading and stared at me, "Charlie?"

If my shouting hadn't gathered attention, the look on her face must have. Her eyes were wide and she dropped her book on the floor with a loud _clack_ of the hard back hitting the concrete.

A sob broke through my lips and I made my way to my locker, grabbing my towel before stripping down and walking to the showers, all the while with my hand still on my cheek.

Eve and AJ looked at each other for a moment before following carefully behind me.

When the water it my skin, I hissed at the sensation of the scalding liquid before adjusting it to not blister my skin. I looked up and saw my friends and gave them a teary eyed smile.

"What happened?" AJ started slowly, both women walking into the open area, staying just far away enough as to not get wet.

"Punk slapped me." The words didn't seem real as they came out of my mouth and I watched both women's expressions grow dark with anger. I finally let my hand away from my cheek and Eve's jaw dropped. I assumed it looked as bad as it felt. When the water touched it, I yelped, and pulled my hand back up.

AJ opened her mouth angrily and I shushed her, "He didn't mean to. He and Mike were fighting and I tried to break them up. He didn't even know it was me when he went to hit me, he thought I was another one of the guys." I told her, my voice surprisingly calm compared to the shaking of my body. Adrenaline is a weird thing.

"But he hit you. Like, REALLY hit you." Eve said, eyes focused on my cheek.

I couldn't help the laugh that came out of my mouth, though it wasn't out of humor at all, "I know." I shut the water off and reached a hand out, AJ handed me my towel and I wrapped it around me after toweling my hair partially dry.

"Are you okay?" she asked as I released my face once again. She winced just at the sight and I sighed.

"I'm fine, it just smarts a little." I said softly, taking carefully steps out of the shower. I so did not want to see what I looked like in the mirror, but I had to. I had been taught to ALWAYS assess the damage of an injury, no matter how minor. My father was a doctor, just family practice, but he'd taken a LOT of extra courses while at medical school for no other reason than the simple "I thought it would be interesting" explanation that he always gave me.

Making my way over to the mirror I cringed. I had a pretty pink handprint stuck on my pale face in the perfect shape of CM Punk's hand. I was aware of everyone's eyes on me, but decided to ignore them until I was done looking. Right beneath my eye where my cheekbone was most prominent, a small, dark purple bruise had begun to form. It was about the size of a nickel and I knew exactly what had caused it. In the handprint, the bruise landed right at the knuckle of where Punk's index finger met the palm of his hand. Bone to bone. That's why it was the only part that was bruising.

I frowned, hopefully it would fade, but bruises were almost always worse the next day and so I was sure I'd have a fun time applying twice the amount of make-up to cover it tomorrow. "Can someone get me some ice?"

"Do you think your cheek is broken?" This came from Beth, who was shooing Alicia Fox out of the room to get me a bag of ice from one of the trainers.

I laughed, "No. If it was broken or even chipped, it would be black. This is dark, but… It's just one of those things you know when you see it. Besides, he didn't hit me that hard."

"He?" Barbie piped up, I watched the women in the room grow deadly serious. I laughed, forgetting they hadn't ALL be in the showers with me.

"Punk. He and Mike were fighting. I tried to break them up and Punk slapped me. He didn't know it was me." I told them, wincing as I touched the bruise gingerly. "If I ice it now it should help the discoloration, maybe speed up the healing…" I was talking to myself, listening to my father's doctor voice in my head.

When Alicia returned with the ice, I was dressed, and ready to leave. I thanked her, as well as the rest of the girls and slung my duffle over my shoulder. In one hand I had the ice pressed to my face, praying to God at least the handprint would be gone by the time I found Punk, and in the other the t-shirt I had been wearing that had was now covered in the blood that had come from Punk's lip.

I found him sitting silently by himself at the monitor bank and tapped his shoulder.

His head turned slowly and his face dropped as he saw me with the ice, "Did I hit you that hard?" he asked, his voice low.

I shook my head and tossed my dirty shirt over my duffle. I grabbed his arm and began walking, taking him with me, "Questions later."


	17. Chapter 17

**I hope you guys are enjoying the story! Here's another chapter for you!**

CH 17

The entire ride back to the hotel was silent, and that was a good 10-15 minute drive. Punk drove and I sat, eyes straight forward with my bag of ice seemingly attached to my cheek. When we got there I let Punk into my room, also entering and closing the door behind me. I set my duffle on the table and motioned him to sit down. He opted for one of the chairs that came with the small two seater table. I moved to sit down on the edge of my bed.

He opened his mouth and I cut him off, "Let me say what I need to say. Because apparently when you open your mouth tonight, you make people mad. So I'm going to ask three questions. I want you to answer them in order and then I'll let you speak freely."

He nodded slowly, looking fairly ashamed of himself.

I took a deep breath, finally taking the ice off of my face. His eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth once again before thinking better of it and staying silent. "First of all, are you okay?"

Punk blinked at me in confusion. "Your lip." I specified, eyes locking onto it.

He reached a hand up to it as if seemingly just now remembering that it was there. "Oh, this? Yeah. I'm fine. The bleeding made it seem a lot worse than it was, it's barely bruised."

I nodded, honestly glad that he wasn't more hurt by the blow. "Now, what the hell happened?"

He let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his face. "I was in a pissy mood and I said a little too much, stuff about personal things, not about work. Like he said, the promo wasn't supposed to end in anything more than a snappy comeback, so when he hit me, I lost it. When I got backstage the only thing I wanted to do was knock his teeth out." He looked utterly dejected and I couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"By personal, I'm assuming you mean something that the two of you have had problems with in the past?" He looked at me for a moment and settled to just nod. "I won't ask then, that's between the two of you." I stood, clearing my throat and walking toward the table he was sitting at. I swallowed slowly and felt my heart beat rapidly in my chest, "So what was with the hallway earlier?"

Punk looked at me for a moment, perplexed. "The kiss." I said, chewing at my lip ring. I leaned up against the table and crossed my arms, willing myself to calm down and keep my cool.

"Oh." He drew the word out slowly. He reached a hand up, scratching his beard as he searched for words. I watched as his tongue darted out to wet his lips before he took a breath, "I thought that would have been pretty self-explanatory." He said with an air of laughter to his tone.

I hardened my expression and raised an eyebrow at him. He got the hint and sighed, "I needed you to not be mad at me. I wasn't too fond of it."

"Well, I wasn't too fond of you ignoring me all weekend either." I told him matter-of-factly, standing on my tip toes to hop up onto the top of the table.

"I could tell…" He laughed softly before looking up at me. His eyes caught mine and I found myself unable to look away. "I told you, I got jealous. Like… Really jealous."

"About what? You're not giving me much to go on." I told him simply, bringing my legs up onto the table with me and pulling my knees to my chest, resting my chin on them.

"About your date." His eyes spoke volumes that he wasn't about to say with his voice.

"My birthday dinner?" I asked, clarifying and he nodded. "Why would you be jealous of that? He's only doing it because I'm a pathetic loser with no plans on her birthday."

He shook his head, laughing, "No, he's doing it because he likes you." He told me this as though it should have been obvious.

I stared at him for a moment, letting this information sink it. Mike liked me? Since when? We had barely hung out! Out loud, I settled for, "That's news to me. And anyway, you being jealous of Mike buying me dinner doesn't explain what you did earlier."

Punk smiled now, laughing and gazing up at me, "I thought I might be able to get away with changing the subject."

I grinned at him, "Yeah, that's what you always do when you don't want to talk about something. I've learned a few things about you in the past week." I told him easily, "Now spill."

He stood up so that he was now looking down at me, "I like you. Enough so to be interested in you." His voice was non-chalant. "I got jealous when he asked you in front of me and got mad and took it out on you. It wasn't your fault he asked you, you're attractive. I was just mad I didn't get to it first. I thought the kiss would be an acceptable form of apology."

I blinked up at him now, cheeks tinged pink. All I could do was nod. I was having one of those inability to speak moments again and this time I decided it was better to just keep my mouth shut, rather than to make an idiot of myself.

He reached a hand down and touched my face lightly, "Is your cheek okay?" his voice was soft, concerned.

I nodded slowly again, "It uh- Yeah. It's fine. I'll have a bruise for a few days but it's okay. The ice should help." I said, eyes not leaving his as I watched him lean forward.

I winced slightly, but let him do what he'd planned as he placed his lips ever so lightly against the wounded area of my face, "I'm really sorry. If I had known who it was, I would have stopped the first time you asked." His voice was almost a whisper.

"It's okay…"

In all reality, it WAS okay. I understood that he wasn't aware that it had been me trying to peel him away from Mike. I had punched one too many of my previous boyfriends because they'd tried to wake me up from nightmares. But I couldn't shake the feeling of resentment that I had building inside my chest. I would have preferred to leave it, to not talk about it.

He pulled away from me to look at the colors gathered on my, "It's not okay…" the words were barely audible as they left his lips.

My brows knit together slowly and my eyes found his, looking intently, trying to read his expression. "I said it's fine." He shook his head slowly, eyes diverting away to the floor.

I watched as his hand fell away from my cheek and it was almost as if the motion tugged at my heart.

Punk heaved a sigh, both hands reaching up to run through his hair. "Charlie, I…" he cut himself off, looking up at me, "I can't even tell you how awful I fell about this…" he mumbled softly. "I was raised better than that. Never lay hands on a girl… EVER. Not for any reason…" his fingers laced through those brown locks and I suddenly saw his muscles tense as he tugged at his hair.

"Punk…" I grabbed at his hands instinctively. Angry one moment, and sympathizing with him the next. How did he manage to do this to me?

He blinked up at me with those hazel eyes of his and I sighed, "Listen… I just…" it was my turn to run an agitated hand through my hair. "I can't say I'm not mad… I mean… I didn't exactly do anything to deserve it but… I just uh… I don't have too many great memories of uh… Of guys who get really physical…"

He wasn't looking at me now, he was staring. "You mean you've had-"

I cut him off, "I'm a little girl, okay? I'm aware of my size, always have been. That's why, when I got a bit older, I ventured away from the girly scene. I thought it would uh… I figured if I could look tougher, I could get away from… All of that…" I watched something cloud his eyes.

"That's why… that night in the alley…" My eyes grew wide. The two of us hadn't said a word about that night since it happened. He seemed to see the surprise in my eyes and he scratched at his head. "That's why you went all shell shocked?"

Despite my discomfort at the subject, I nodded, "Yeah. That's why I went all shell shocked… I uh… I guess I sort of had this thought in my head that since I had been safe for a while, I was kind of invincible and then that guy…" I shook my head slowly. "Listen, I really don't want to get into this. Just know its okay, I understand that it wasn't on purpose and its okay."

"I told you I wouldn't let anything like that happen to you again and then I…" he hung his head suddenly, before reaching a hand back up, touching the non-injured side of my face, "Charlie, I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry."

Before I could respond, once again, that it was fine, his arms were wrapped around me and I found my body being pulled in against his chest. He was hugging me. I blinked slowly, simply standing there with my cheek resting gingerly against the soft fabric of his t-shirt. He rested his own cheek lightly on the top of my head and I found my arms snaking their way around his waist.

"Punk…" My voice was soft and in this moment, feeling how truly remorseful he was, I couldn't be mad at him anymore, "It's okay. I promise." I told him lightly.

He sighed into my hair and the sensation sent shivers down my spine, "I'll make it up to you, Charlie. I swear I will." He pulled me away from his chest and looked down at me. His thumb gently graced my bruised cheek again and I winced. He sighed softly, "You really think that ice will help the color?"

I nodded, "My dad's a doctor, I'm positive the ice will help." I told him with a confident smile. "I mean, I'll have a bruise no matter what, but since I got the ice on so quickly after it happened, it won't look nearly as bad. Plus, it's purple already, which means it's not all that severe. If it was really bad it would be like yellow and THEN purple. Not the other way around. It seems like this would be worse but it's not. The human body is really funny that wa-"

He put a finger over my lips, smiling softly down at me, "You're rambling." He said, reaching down to kiss my forehead lightly. Punk stood back up, smiling at me, "I'm gonna go to my room. I have an early flight tomorrow, but I'm glad you're okay." He caressed my jaw in his hand.

I nodded, "Yeah… Uhm… Be careful."

He laughed softly, making his way to the door, "I'll be as careful as I can on a plane that I'm not steering."

This shot me out of my daze and I stuck my tongue out at him, "Oh, you're taking a plane? I thought you had learned to fly like a bird, I didn't want you to get stuck in any wind turbines."

He smirked, "No, I did that last week, it just made me really tired." He told me, hand on the doorknob. "I'll try to call you tomorrow, but in case I don't get the chance… Happy birthday Charlie." The smirk turned into a real smile and along with it, came the butterflies erupting in my stomach.

By the time I had the cognitive skills to say "Thank you," he had already closed the door behind him, leaving me in silence to think about the events of the evening, my hand traveling slowly to touch the place where his lips had just been.


	18. Chapter 18

**YOU GUYS!**

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated lately! I try to stay at least a few chapters ahead of what I'm posting with my writing and I've been stuck on my latest chapter for weeks!**

**But the good news for you is that I finally finished it and NOW my writers block is gone! YES.**

**Aaaaaaanyway, hope you guys enjoy!**

CH 18

"Try a little more, little more, little more. They slap you like a bitch and you take it like a whore. Upside down and around, and around. Just another piece 'till you need another sound."

"NANANANANANANANA NANANANANANANANA."

The sound of Shake Tramp was blaring through my hotel room as I got ready the next morning, singing along at the top of my lungs. I think I even recall singing into my hair brush a few times. I pulled my hair up into a pony tail at the back of my head and put on my make-up, taking extra care to thoroughly cover my bruise, before dancing my way out of the bathroom and into the main bedroom. I grabbed a pair of torn jeans and, to match the theme of the day, a Marianas Trench t-shirt that was, as all of my band t's were, butchered to my liking. I'd cut the sleeves out of this one and made my own messy V-neck cut.

My dancing was cut short when the sound of my phone barely made if over the music blaring from my laptop. I rushed over to both, pausing my playlist and picking up my phone with a laugh, "Yello?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR CHARLIIIIIIE. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU."

I couldn't help but laugh at the chorus of voices coming out of the speaker into my ear. "Thanks guys." The voices belonged to my family. From what I could hear, we had my Mom, my Dad, my older brother Eric and his wife Ashley, my older sister Briana, my younger brother Aaron, and of course, my dog howling in the background.

Mom took the chance to grab the phone before anyone else could, "Hi sweet girl!"

I smiled, moving to lean back against the headboard of my bed, making myself comfortable, "Hi mom."

"How are you, sweetie? Are you doing alright? Taking care of yourself?"

"I'm doing really well, Mama. Things are going great." I assured her, playing with the hem of my shirt.

"Good, here's dad." I heard the noises of the phone being passed around before my father's voice met my ears, "Hi punkin."

The nickname made me giggled, "Hi daddy."

"Wish we could be there with you." He told me, shushing Aaron in the background.

"Me too, but it's okay, I'm going to be a tourist today, so I'll send you guys pictures."

"That sounds great. Hold on, Eric and Ashley." I waited once more as the phone was passed, laughing to myself at my family's enthusiasm. "Hey twerp!" that was Eric, "Hi Charlie." And Ashley.

"Hi guys. You come down from Dallas?" The two of them lived in the Dallas area, where Ashley's family lived.

"Yep. I mean, I know you're not here, but we decided to keep the tradition. I hope it's okay for us to party on your behalf." Eric chuckled.

I laughed and couldn't help but smile, "By all means, party it up. But if mom and dad do karaoke, I demand videos."

"But of course!"

"Love you sis! Here's Bri." It seemed so funny to me that all of them seemed to need to say hello to me.

"How're you doin' punk?" Briana's Texas accent was more pronounced than the rest of my families, I blame it on her college years in Lubbock.

"I'm fine, Bri. How're you? Finding any decent guys?" I asked, sitting up and stretching on my bed.

"Actually, yeah. I'm talkin' to a guy I met a while back at work. He seems nice enough." She informed me and I could hear our german shepherd barking in the background. "Bandit says hi too. We miss ya, kiddo."

I laughed, "I know. Sometime next month I have a few days off so I think I'll come visit." I listened as my sister relayed that information and then heard "oh, oh! Let me talk to her!"

I grinned as the phone was passed again and I heard the voice I had missed most, "Hi Charlie!"

"Hey squirt!" I was beaming. My younger brother and I had a special bond that I didn't have with the rest of my siblings. Eric was already moved out by the time I was a teen and Bri had gone on to college, which had left me and Aaron as the kids in the house. I guess it gave us time to bond that I never had with my older brother and sister. "How's school going?" I asked excitedly.

"We got out last Thursday, so I'm on summer vacay now." Aaron's voice was slightly deeper than the last time I talked to him and I sighed, slightly upset that I was missing his teen years. "Oh! And I got my permit!"

"Now THAT, is scary." I laughed, imagining Aaron in my dad's big dooly truck. "Are you practicing in Mama's car, or…?"

I could practically HEAR his grin over the phone, "Nope. Dad said when I get my license, I get the truck."

I laughed, "What? That is so much BS! I've wanted that since I had my permit!"

He laughed, "Well, too bad. You're on the road anyway, you don't need a car." He teased.

I laughed, wishing more than anything I could ruffle his ginger hair. Aaron was the only member of our family who truly looked as Irish as we were. "You've got a point. Well listen, I've gotta go get ready. I'm going sight seeing today. Tell everyone I love them and y'all make sure to have a huge group hug just for me, okay?"

"Alright. Bye Charlie!" I heard the rest of my family call their goodbyes and one last bark from Bandit before the phone cut off.

I sighed softly, just about to settle into my sadness of missing my family when I was interrupted by a knock on my door.

I blinked and got up, rushing over to open it and was greeted with the faces of AJ, Beth and Eve. I was caught my surprise and simply laughed as they all began to sing my happy birthday.

When they were done I had a box of cupcakes shoved into my hands as AJ reached down and grabbed a vase of flowers. "These aren't from us, but they were sitting here."

I blinked at the flowers as I took them, "I guess I didn't hear the knock. I was listening to my music pretty loud." I laughed. I went to the table and set my gifts down before coming back to the door and hugging my friends.

"We just wanted to stop by before we catch our flight out." Eve told me as I hugged her last.

"Aw, you guys are too much." I laughed, smiling at the three of them, "Thank you very much. I'll be sure to give Mike a cupcake."

One of Beth's eyebrows popped up on her forehead, "Mike?" She asked and I gasped.

"Oh my God I never told you guys!" I laughed to myself and slapped a hand on my forehead, "Uhm… Well…Mike is… He's taking me to dinner tonight. Like a uhm… Well like a birthday… date…" I laughed nervously.

"A date?" AJ grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me, "How on earth could you forget to tell us that?"

I couldn't help but laugh, "I don't know! I just did!" The girl's were all chattering when Beth's phone went off. After just a few "yeahs" and "okays" she frowned.

"I wish we could stay with you all day and help you get ready, but they're waiting for us at the airport and we're running a little late." I began hugging all of them.

"The bakery had a line." AJ informed me and I laughed.

"You guys just have a safe flight okay?"

They assured me that they would and as they left, I retreated back into my room. I stood for a moment and stared at the flowers on my table.

I must have been caught up in my one woman dance party, but if I heard my phone, I would imagine I would have heard a knock on the door… I shrugged to myself and made my way over to the vase. The arrangement was beautiful, with the normal baby's breath accents, but it was the roses that made it breath taking. It was at least a dozen pure white roses that were only half bloomed and in the center was one gorgeous, completely matured crimson rose. As I turned the vase to look and leaned down to smell the flowers, my eyes caught a small black card.

I picked it up and found on the outside, in white, my name written in a nice, neat script. "Charlotte" I blinked and then opened it. "You're one in a million, you stick out from the crowd and in a sea of ordinary people, you bring excitement into my life. Happy birthday, Charlie." There was no signature, just the message written neatly, and my gorgeous array of roses.

I couldn't help but smile, this must have been Mike's idea of a precursor to our date. It was sweet, though it didn't exactly seem his style, but I shrugged that off, opting not to dwell on it but instead, to grab my camera and make my way out into the city for a day of site seeing before my big birthday dinner.


	19. Chapter 19

**1.) I beat writers block and wrote two chapters in one night! Yeah!**

**2.) Charlie is horribly oblivious to everything.**

**3.) Enjoy! :) Your reviews are SO greatly appreciated! :D**

CH 19

My day went along fairly uneventful, except for once, I was actually stopped on the street. "Aren't you that chick that CM Punk is dating?"

I stared at the girl who'd asked me and laughed. I simply nodded and believe it or not, she asked to take a picture of me. I obliged and texted Punk, though I knew I would more than likely not get an answer back.

Which is why I was a little more than surprised when I got back to my hotel room and answered my phone to hear a familiar voice on the other end, "Talk about an unexpected birthday present, huh?"

I laughed, glad to hear Punk's voice on the other end of the line, "No joke." I told him, heading in to my room. I smiled at my roses, "I got flowers today." I said, going to them and sniffing them happily.

"Oh did you? From who?" He sounded truly intrigued.

"That's a damn good question, there's no name on it." I laughed, glancing down at the card on the table. I walked over to my bed and plopped down, "I'm tired. I walked around Boston all day, I don't want to go on a date, I just want to sleep." I couldn't help but laugh at myself for being silly, though I was truthfully tired.

"What? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard all day!"

I scoffed, "What do you care? Didn't you get in a fight over it or some shit?" I asked, sighing softly to myself.

I still hadn't quite figured out the events of the day before. Punk kissed me. Fact. He told me he liked me. Fact. He said he was jealous he didn't ask me first. Also fact. But if that was true, then why was it that I was still going on a date with Mike and not Punk? Why had he left so quickly last night? There should have been a whole conversation, a confession of sorts… I just didn't get it.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry, I zoned out." I laughed softly, rolling my eyes at my own loss of concentration.

He laughed softly over the phone and I wished almost desperately that I could see the face he was making. Why did he have to leave me on my birthday? I was pouting now. "So anyway, did you make it safely?"

"No, my plane crashed in some forest in the mid-west, but my cell phone made it and I didn't want you to worry on your birthday, so I didn't call." He was smirking, I just knew it.

I couldn't help but laugh at him, "Smart ass…" I mumbled, letting out a sigh, "I seriously think I might just skip the date and head on out." I mused to him as I rolled over onto my stomach to get comfortable.

"Seriously? Why?" His voice was a tad bit higher than it had been a moment ago.

"Just because I'm tired and I don't feel like making myself presentable." I laughed, stretching my arms over my head as I spoke.

"Oh hush. You've gotta go!" His words were slightly strung together as he spoke and I frowned to myself.

"Why?"

"Because, it's your birthday! You can't just spend your day wandering around a city alone and then on a plane. That would just be ridiculous! And then I'd have to be all pissed off with myself for not staying with you."

I paused for a moment. So he would have stayed if I had asked…? Boys confused me so badly. That was the reason I avoided dating in high school. "Yeah, but it's going to be all awkward what with everything that happened yesterday…" I frowned.

"Nah, we apologized to each other. It's fine." His voiced sounded slightly strained as he said this and my frown deepened slightly. What was going on with this guy?

"Yeah, I guess. And I wouldn't want to stand him up, you know. I guess more than anything I just wish the girls were here to help me." I laughed, "I mean, I've learned a little bit of fashion from them, but I'm still kind of clueless on date attire, per say."

I heard a voice in the background, "Yeah!" He called to it and then directed his attention back to me, "Hey, I've gotta go. Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. I'm sure everyone has landed, so you can call Eve or someone if you need to. Oh! You should wear that uh… That dress… The green one that you continuously avoid wearing. The one AJ made you buy. It'll bring out your eyes. Happy birthday!" with that he hung up before I could say another word.

I looked over at my suitcase to stare at said green dress. It was emerald, made from a silk/twill mix material cut in a boudoir style corset top with optional strap. His voice rang in my head, "It'll bring out your eyes." He knew what color my eyes were? I mean… I guess that was to be expected with someone you were with as much as we were but… I felt my face flush red and I shook my head.

I sighed out loud, walking over to the dress and picking it up. "Well now I have to wear it…" I mumbled to myself. I couldn't help the small pout but at the same time, I had to smile.

I made my way over to my laptop, now excited to get ready, seeing as I wouldn't have to select my own wardrobe. I found Saturday Night by The Misfits among my collection and turned it on, laughing at my taste in music. I should have been listening to something dancey, but Danzig just sounded so much better in my ears.

By the time Mike called to let me know he was headed up to my room from his own, all I had left was to put on lipstick.

"I like the curls." Punk's words had floated back to my mind when I had been doing my hair and, since he'd helped me with my outfit, I had decided to go with his instinct on my hair as well. My make-up was a nice thin line of black to outline my eyes and green eye shadow, done up into a smoky, dramatic eye. I put on the dark red lipstick I'd come to love so much and smiled at myself in the mirror. I grabbed the chandelier earrings I had borrowed from AJ and grabbed my purse just in time to hear a knock on the door.

"It's show time."


	20. Chapter 20

**Aaaaaand more updates because I've finished more chapters today. And because I love you guys. :)**

CH 20

I don't know if any of you have had this experience, but it seems to me that you don't really notice how attractive a friend is until they ask you on a date. No? That's just me?

Mike was looking incredibly dapper this evening. He was in a pair of charcoal slacks, a turquoise long sleeved button up and a matching grey blazer with pinstripes the same color as his shirt. The top two buttons were undone, leaving just the smallest hint of his well-toned chest.

I smiled, "Hi." I said, unable to control the nerves that were erupting in my stomach.

He grabbed my hand, kissing the back of it lightly, "Happy birthday." He shot me a charming smile and I laughed softly.

"Thank you, Mike. You look…" I scanned his body with my eyes slowly, "You look great." I said softly, cheeks flushing pink.

"You're one to talk." He grinned at me, holding out his arm. I hooked my hand around it and let him escort me to the elevator and down to his rental car.

"I got your flowers." I told him, as he opened the door on my side of the car. He gave me an odd look and I smiled, "The roses."

He looked at me for a while longer, and I could almost see something turn on behind his eyes, "Oh… Yeah, the roses." He smiled, closing my door and walking around to the other side of the car, getting in and turning it on. "Did you like them?"

"Of course I did. They're beautiful." I said, smiling over at him, pretty happy that I had decided to go on the date after all.

I watched him drive us towards a restaurant in downtown Boston. He was oddly quiet, like he was thinking about something, troubled, almost. "Hey… You okay?" I asked softly, reaching a hand over to touch his leg, a look of worry washing over my face.

He blinked at the road and then over at me, "Huh? Oh, yeah. I uhm… I'm just glad the uh… those flowers got delivered on time." There was something hidden in Mike's eyes, but soon he turned back to the street we were driving down and I wasn't able to analyze the look he'd just given me.

I shrugged the feeling off as we pulled up outside of a very nice looking restaurant. I blinked slowly as a valet came around to talk to Mike about parking. After exchanging money, I watched my date walk over and open my door, offering a hand to help me out into the warm May air.

As we made our way inside, I caught the word "L'Espalier" On the top of the small doorway we made our way into. We were greeted by a man in a suit and I knew my eyes were wide as saucers.

By the time we were escorted to our seats and given the small dinner menu, I looked up at Mike, staring intently, "This place is…" I looked around, "Incredible."

He smiled at me, "I'm glad you like it. It's a little ritzy, but the food's amazing, so it's worth it."

I nodded slowly, "I just… I mean… This has to be costing you a ton!" my voice was hushed as I leaned slightly over the table to speak.

A rich laugh flowed from his lips and I felt my cheeks tinge red, "Price is not an object." He told me, blue eyes twinkling with the light of a single candlestick that had been lit between us.

I stared, unable to say anything. All of this for the little girl from Texas who used to think that going out to eat at Chili's was a big splurge of money. "I-if you're sure, Mike. I mean… You definitely didn't have to go to all of this trouble." I was looking around at the older couples of men and women, people on business dinners and other such company. I was thankful, but I couldn't help but feel horribly out of place.

"It wasn't trouble at all." With that, he began perusing his menu, urging me to do the same.

I can't quite recall what all Mike had, but by the time the evening was through, I had eaten fresh roasted farm vegetables, with almond-honey vinaigrette, and toasted pumpkin seeds; butter-poached Casco Bay lobster with a swiss chard, native corn flan and roasted pepper relish and for dessert; a milk chocolate caramel soufflé with caramel financier, and Gianduja ice cream.

While the food was all decadent and wonderful, I was almost unnerved by just how fancy it all seemed, but Mike seemed comfortable, almost welcome in the aristocratic atmosphere.

When the check came, my date snatched it up, but not before I could see that the total was well over $200. I didn't even buy clothes for that much money!

I stared with wide eyes at him as he laid the card on the table for our waiter to come back and grab. He then smiled over at me, "Happy birthday, Charlie." He told me with a wry smile.

I blinked back at him, still in shock over the cost of our meal, "Oh. Yeah. I mean, thank you, Mike. This has all been…" I sighed, unable to hide the smile tugging at my lips, "I haven't been on a date like this in a long time." I told him truthfully.

As our waiter brought back the ticket and Mike signed away his two hundred and some odd dollars, he looked back at me with surprise, "You? Not going on dates?" he seemed truly perplexed by the thought of this.

I laughed, "Why do people always say that?" I asked, taking his hand as he walked around the table to help me up.

We walked outside, getting into the car that was pulled up for us by the valet before he answered that question. "Because, you're not exactly the girl next door." Mike told me simply as we started off down the bustling street.

I scoffed at him, eyes staring out the window at the night life of Boston, happily. "I'm like the punk rock chick next door." I stated just as simply, glancing over at him to see the fake frustration on his face.

"So not." He chuckled, turning down a side road that was leading into a nice, well-kept park.

"I really am just like any other girl." I was eyeing a large stone building in the distance of the park. It looked like a country club house of sorts, but what caught my eye was the fountain in front of it. I had a thing for fountains; I always had, ever since I was little. "And seriously, no one even noticed me until the Divas fixed me up, so you can't act like you're all that surprised. I mean, you saw me before. I wasn't exactly top model material." I heard him laugh at this, my eyes still focused on the fountain, "So you're not denying it?" I finally took my eyes away from the glimmering masterpiece to glance over at him.

He smiled over at me, almost sadly, "I can't deny it, but I CAN tell you that you've always been a beautiful girl. You just covered it up with baggy clothes and a punk attitude." His voice was soft and I saw his eyes move in the direction of the country club.

I blushed, "I have more reasons than you think to cover things up." My mind flashed back to the conversation I'd had with Punk last night. I wonder what he thought of me after that. Most people tend to look at you differently when they find out you've been abused in the past. They either shy away from you or just start treating you like you're fragile.

"I saw you looking over here. Let's go in and look around."

Mike's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I blinked up from the window I'd been staring at to see the fountain I'd been admiring.

My face broke into a smile, "You are seriously the best." Before he could respond I was out the door and rushing over to the sound of falling water.

I'm sure I must have looked like an idiot, standing there in the dark, wearing my dress, staring up at the cascading waterfalls with their color changing lights gleaming back to light up my skin.

I heard Mike's footfalls behind me before I felt hands wiggling their way around my waist. I blushed, biting my lip, but I didn't stop him. This was a date right? Punk had said this man was interested in me. But… He'd also said HE was interested in me… Punk… He liked me. Isn't that what he'd said? And now I was here with…

I whirled around in Mike's arms but not nearly as gracefully as I would have wanted to. The heel of my shoe slipped and I found myself falling, almost in slow motion, backwards in the direction of the large pool of water that collected underneath the fountain.

I had about half a second to grasp the reality of what was about to happen before strong arms wrapped themselves firmly around my middle and I was stopped in mid-air.

Staring up into the crystal blue eyes of my date, I could do nothing but laugh.

He grinned down at me, pulling me upright slowly, "You have to be more careful." He teased, releasing my waist.

My hand found my chest and beneath the skin, my frantic heartbeat. "No joke. That was almost REALLY bad." I found myself laughing nervously, willing my adrenaline to ebb itself away.

"Hey, the lights are on in here, why don't we go in and get a drink?" Mike offered, taking my hand in his.

I simply nodded, still trying to settle my heart rate back to normal. "Thanks for saving me, by the way." I looked sideways at him and smiled, "This dress would cost me quite a bit in dry cleaning bills."

He stopped right before the door and turned me to face him. The look in his eyes made my breath hitch in my throat. Not to mention the fact that he really WAS breathtakingly handsome. "It was my pleasure." With that, he hooked a finger under my chin and lifted my head up to his and before I knew it, our lips were touching. He was kissing me.

_I think it's safe to say that as of that moment I wasn't aware of the one other person who was sharing this kiss with us from the other side of one of the windows of the country club._

Punk stared, really unable to take it in for a moment. There was Charlie. His friend. His GOOD friend. A girl he admired. A girl he had feelings for. A girl that he was a bit more than simply interested in. And there was Mike. His friend. His EX friend. A man he had respected. A man he had previously counted close to him. A man that was now lips to lips with the girl he was much more than interested in.

"Punk!"

A hushed whispered came from behind him and he turned his head around to look at AJ.

"What?" he snapped back at her and she frowned. Just a moment ago he had been so excited because Charlie was outside with Mike, walking down the sidewalk.

"Get away from the window, they'll see you!" He scowled at the small girl who in turn, punched him lightly on the arm. "Stop being all pouty! What's up with you?" She asked, her voice still hushed as the group gathered inside all stood in view of the doorway.

"Nothing." Punk said, crossing his arms over his chest. Had nothing he'd said the night before gotten through to her? Did she not see the flowers he'd left for her before he'd gone to help with the set up for this party? Did he mean nothing to her? What the hell was she thinking, kissing Mike?

His thoughts were cut short as the door opened and in stepped the girl he thought he admired and the man he now despised, and all he could do was force a sarcastic smile and yell "Surprise! Happy birthday, Charlie!" with the rest of the crowd.


	21. Chapter 21

**Yeah... Pretty sure you guys are going to be pissed at me. Lmao.**

**Worry not! I have a plan!**

**Also, every since I finished ch 22 I have been on a writing SPREE. Cranking out like 2 chapters a day so you guys are lucky because that means more updates!**

**PLEASE continue to review. It seriously puts THE biggest smile on my face. You have no idea. Like, I hear my phone go off to tell me I have an e-mail and I'm like "OH GOD SOMEONE SENT ME A REVIEW. BRB. GOTTA GO DANCE AROUND MY HOUSE".**

CH 21

I'm pretty sure that smile was one of my biggest to date. There were a lot of things I had hoped for on my birthday, but I hadn't even thought this was in the realm of possibility!

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLIE!"

There, inside the gorgeous country club house, were all of my newest friends. For a moment, I just stood there, dumbfounded with what I'm sure was the stupidest grin spread across my face, taking it all in. "I-I thought you were all… Seriously?"

I jumped up and down on the spot for a moment before running over to AJ and Eve, "Oh my God! You guys!" they hugged me first and then I felt the large group around us melt into one large group hug.

We all laughed and they let me go. I stood there, almost in tears as the rumble of noise from my party-goers settled down. They all waited in semi-silence, waiting for me to say something, anything, but I simply laughed for another moment, wiping a tear from my cheek.

"This… You guys…" I looked around at all of them, my bottom lip quivering, "Do I have to make a speech now?" I laughed, as did all of my friends before Mark Calloway, The Undertaker, clapped me lightly on the back.

"Not right now, but we'd like to hear from you at some point this evening." He chuckled, low in his throat. Mark was a large man, almost 7 foot, with tattoos covering his arms, but in all reality, he was the biggest teddy bear of a man I'd ever met. Well, if you didn't count Paul White, more commonly known as The Big Show. He was pretty cuddly as well.

I smiled up at Mark and gave him a quick hug, feeling just how tiny I was in his massive arms. I turned back around to look at all of my friends and laughed to myself once more before grinning at them all, "Well… Let's party!"

Everyone cheered and I saw Mike at the back of the room crank up a stereo system.

Through the course of the night I made my way around the room that my party was being held in. A lounge, an open bar, a small table of party foods, and the best part, the small area set aside for our make-shift dance floor. I had also somehow managed to say hello and talk with each one of my guests. I felt that I had to; I owed them so much for throwing this party for me.

I was currently making my way over to the last guest, the one person I actually wanted to talk to and somehow, the one person I hadn't gotten to say anything at all to the entire evening.

Punk was seated on a small loveseat over in the lounge area with a can of Pepsi in his hand. I grinned, plopping down next to him, "So you knew about this the whole time?" I asked him, stretching slightly as I got comfortable.

"Sure did." He answered shortly.

I blinked at him for a moment but brushed it off, "Well, you did a really good job keeping it a secret from me. Thank you." I leaned over for a hug and he gave me one of those awkward, side hug things. I frowned at this. What was he all in a mood for? "Are you having fun?"

"Loads."

I sighed, "What's wrong?" I asked, resting a hand lightly on his knee.

He jerked the knee out from underneath my hand and I stared at him, "Nothing." He wouldn't even look at me.

I opened my mouth to say something when I heard my name being called from over at the refreshments. "I'll be right back."

I didn't catch the last few words he said to me as I walked away but my mind was now buzzing. What was wrong with him…? My face was sullen when I reached Eve at the table, but my frown quickly vanished as I saw the cake, complete with candles being lit.

"You guys are seriously too much!" I grinned, hugging her as everyone began in on a song of happy birthday. As my guests sang to me, my eyes scanned the crowd, and I felt my smile slip as I saw the back of Punk's head still sitting moodily on the couch.

"Make a wish!"

Oh. Were they done singing already? I glanced over at my friend once more before holding my hair back and closing my eyes. '_I wish he would just talk to me' _I thought before taking a deep breath in and blowing out the candles in one long stream of air.

After the cake was cut and my friends were now munching on their dessert, the room grew quiet. Everyone's stares directed towards me and I figured now was as good a time as any.

"I guess I just want to say thank you all. I mean, I thought most of you were already headed to Smackdown, but here you are!" I laughed nervously before growing a bit more serious, "But really, I can't tell all of you how much this means to me. I was honestly expecting to spend the evening eating cupcakes in my room and crying." A few people chuckled and I smiled, "It sounds funny, but I'm serious! I had resigned myself to just being really bummed all day. And then I had my date with Mike and so that was my one thing to look forward to and now, here you all are!" I gestured out at the crowd and then sighed softly, "From the bottom of my heart, thank you guys. I think this will be one of my most memorable birthdays to date."

From somewhere within the group, someone shouted "To Charlie!" and it was echoed throughout the room, along with the clinking of glasses and cans.

I bowed, thanking them all again before sneaking around the table, back to the couch. I sighed, arms crossing over my chest as I watched Punk pretend not to see me.

"Okay, seriously? What's your issue…?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice normal.

His face turned slowly upwards to look at me. He placed a hand over his chest, "Me?"

He was mocking me.

I took a second to frown at him, "Yeah. You." My tone had a bit of a bite to it now.

"My issue? What makes you think I have an issue?" He leaned back on the loveseat, making himself comfortable and taking a drink of his Pepsi.

I was fuming a bit now, "Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you've been sitting back here moping since I showed up? Generally I think that would give me a just reason to think you've got an issue."

"Nope. No issue. And I'm not moping. I'm just minding my own business back here. Doing my best to stay away from the drunkards." He shrugged up at me.

I rolled my eyes, "So that gives you an excuse to have an attitude with me and not even say hello? I mean, I don't know if you got the memo, but I'm pretty sure the whole reason we're all here is for MY birthday." At this point, the annoyance in my voice was clear.

"No attitude, like I said, I'm just trying to stay out of the way."

A groan snuck out of my throat and I ran a hand through my hair. "Besides that, you realize not everyone here is getting wasted, right? Some people have to actually drive home."

I watched him turn to look at the dance floor pointedly. The group gathered there had obviously had quite a bit to drink so far and didn't seem too keen on stopping any time soon.

"Okay, obviously there are some people who are blitzed out of their minds, but I'm just saying, not everyone is drinking."

He once again turned his head to the remainder of the guests who were milling around and talking, most of them with either a beer or a glass of wine in their hands. Casual drinkers, not partiers.

"Okay, I'M not drinking tonight. Does that make you feel any better?" I snapped at him.

"Oh, really? I have to say that just makes me feel surprised." He wasn't looking at me now.

I felt my nostrils flare slightly, "What's that supposed to mean?" My words were slow and punctuated, and I was willing my temper not to get the best of me.

"It means it's just pretty rare for you to be AVOIDING alcohol. After all, I've spent a few of MY nights since I've known you babysitting." He looked up at me slowly.

I stared, mouth hanging open slightly. "So what you're trying to say is that I'm a drunk." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"I would never say such a thing." He faked a look of 'How dare you?'.

"No, but you'll sure as hell beat around the bush about it, won't you?" I snapped at him. I could feel my hands clenching and unclenching at my sides.

He laughed. The bastard had the audacity to laugh. "You're damn right I will."

My hand reared back and before I knew it, my palm made contact with his left cheek. We both sat there for a moment, still and silent before he turned his head to look up at me. "Looks like we're Twinkies now, huh?"

I felt tears sting my eyes as I watched my handprint pop out in pink on his face. "Seriously? That's all you have to say? After how "sorry" you were last night, and how bad you felt? After everything you told me yesterday? You're just going to suddenly decide you want to be a jackass?"

He stood up now, our bodies only inches away from each other. I stared defiantly up at him, willing myself not to cry.

I felt my jaw clench before I opened my mouth to speak. I kept my voice quiet and as calm as I could muster, "Fuck you."

I watched something that looked almost like hurt pass over his eyes before he literally sneered down at me, "No, thanks. I don't think Mike would want my sloppy seconds on that one too."

I felt a pang in my chest and my lip started quivering, "I think it's time for you to leave." My voice was strained with an effort to stay calm.

"You know what, for once, I think you've got a brilliant idea. Happy birthday."

With that, he stepped past me and headed for the door. I turned around quickly, wanting so badly to shout at him, but instead I just stood there in silence, watching as he shoved his way past Mike with his shoulder and out the door.

Pretty sure there's not enough alcohol in my system to deal with this right now.


	22. Chapter 22

**If you're lucky I'll post chapter 23 after this one. That is if I can finish the chapter I'm currently writing at the moment tonight.**

**Also, someone come drag me out of the Harry Potter section of this website or I may never write another wrestling fic again.**

**Oh Hogwarts... How you tease me with your non-existence...**

**Brb. I have to go cry in my corner now... ;-;**

CH 22

Surprisingly, after that indecent, I managed to make my way over to the bar with teary eyes. The bartender blinked at me as I wiped the tears from my face, he opened his mouth as if he were going to say something and I shot him a deadly glance. "Tequila. Now."

He nodded, eyes wide as he grabbed a Collins glass and a tequila bottle off of the top shelf. As he poured the glass and handed it to me I snatched it away from him, "Leave the bottle." He stared at me for a moment before slowly setting down the bottle of Patron and walking away.

I downed the first glass, cursing the fact that I had eaten such a large dinner before pouring myself another and slamming it as well. I continued this until I had four glasses down and a buzzing in my head. I knew well enough that sitting down and drinking only ever led to more intoxication once a person got up and started moving, but I didn't really care at the moment. I stood up, hand grasping the neck of the bottle as I made my way to the dance floor.

Somewhere along the way, the alcohol hit me like a freight train and I giggled softly before kicking my shoes off in a corner and jumping into the middle of the writhing group of my friends.

I stumbled upon AJ who gave me an odd look as she glanced at my bottle. "Isn't it a little late to just now be starting in on the drinking?" she asked, a concerned look on her face.

I blinked at her for a moment, "My birthday. My rules." My words were slurred together as I took a long drink of tequila. "AJ, have you met my friend?" I held the bottle up to her face, "His name is Enrique. Because I just think it fits. Y'know?" with that I peeled away from the smaller woman and made my way to dance with the first male that I could find, who just so happened to have been my date earlier that evening.

"Hi Mike." The words spilled from my mouth as the bottle met my lips again. I was leaning on him, unable to hold myself upright without swaying, and feeling the heat of his body seeping through his suit just seemed much more appealing than standing on my own.

"Uhm. Hi." He put an arm around me to hold me steady, "I thought you weren't planning on drinking tonight. You know, didn't want to be hung over on the flight tomorrow morning?"

I giggled, cuddling my face into the shoulder of his jacket. His cologne smelled good, but it was different than what I remembered it to be. No… Wait… That was Punk's cologne. Never mind. Not even the same person.

Not the same… Where was Punk, then? Why wasn't he at my birthday party? "Where's Punk?" the words slurred from my lips.

Mike gave me an odd sort of look before reaching for my bottle. I snatched it away, grinning, "Answer first. Then booze." I pursed my lips, before winking at him, "Maybe a kiss. If I'm feeling nice."

He chuckled at me, pushing stray hair out of my face before looking into my eyes, apparently hoping that eye contact would force me to concentrate on his words, which it did. "He left. Punk left, I mean. He's not here anymore. You remember?"

I frowned up at him. "Why?" the sound was drawn out and quiet.

"You… had an argument. I'm not sure what about, but you hit him." Mike's words were careful as he watched me intently.

"I don't like your answer…" I blinked over at my bottle of tequila, downing a fair amount of the bitter liquid, before looking back up at the man in front of me. I felt tears sting my eyes and I shook my head. "I want to go home." I was pouting. I was drunk, and sad, and now I was pouting.

Mike blinked at me for a moment before nodding slowly, "Okay. We can leave." His voice was soft and all I could do was nod and attempt not to cry.

How could I have possibly managed to drink away that memory already? Well, I mean, now that Mike had told me about it, I remembered. Maybe I just didn't want to remember. Nope. Most definitely didn't want to remember. Remembering made me pout.

I watched Mike walk away before pressing the bottle of tequila to my mouth. More liquor. Liquor helps me to not pout.

As I continued on the chugging of my alcohol, I watched as a pair of shoes fell to the floor in front of me. When I blinked up, AJ was standing in front of me. Her smile was soft and she placed a hand on my shoulder to steady me.

"You okay, sweetie?" Her voice was low and I handed her my bottle, bending over to put my shoes on.

I felt hands on my waist and watched Mike's face pop into view. I blinked, still bent over and watched him grab my shoes from me. As I righted myself, I swayed, and both of my friends grabbed for me before I could topple over. My date smiled softly, "Maybe we should nix the heels." He offered.

I blinked at him for a moment before nodding. Four inch heels were probably not my friend right now. Tequila and heels... Hm. Nope. Just didn't sound quite right to me.

The two of them walked me out to Mike's rental car, settling me into the passenger seat despite my continuous annoyance that AJ had thrown "Enrique" into the nearest trashcan as we had exited the club house.

Before AJ closed the door she leaned in, "Are you okay hon?" she asked softly, her face concerned.

I stared up at her for a moment, my face contorted as the liquor began it's first step in wearing off. "I don't think I like Boston much anymore." I told her sadly. I was pouting again.

She gave me a sad smile, "I'll see you at the airport in the morning. Goodnight, Charlie. Happy birthday." She told me, closing the door lightly before saying something to Mike and making her way back down the walk way to the house.

"I dislike Boston as much as I dislike Ohio…" I mumbled softly to myself.

"What about disliking Ohio?" Mike asked, getting into the driver's side and starting the car.

I blinked over at him and laughed sadly, "No." I shook my head, "Just. No. We don't talk about Ohio." I told him, sighing and pinching the bridge of my nose with my fingers.

His brows furrowed as he pulled out onto the road in the park, "You know I'm from Ohio, right?"

"Born in Parma. Billed from Cleveland. I've read your wiki page." I rambled, "And googled your face for the background of my phone." For whatever reason I giggled, "You're pretty." I looked over at him, "I was a wrestling fan before I was a photographer."

Mike chuckled, "You know your stuff, then." I nodded, staring ahead.

Now I was thinking about Ohio. I SO did not want to be thinking about Ohio. Because then I would think about Punk. And I didn't want to think about Punk because he was a sarcastic asshole who had called me a drunk. I was not a drunk. I could show him what it meant for me to be a drunk. Everyone back home knew what I was like as a drunk.

I felt a tear slip down my cheek and I wiped it away quickly, sniffling softly.

I could feel Mike's eyes on me before I actually turned to look at him. "What?"

His eyes held something soft, I would have read more into it, but my head was still fuzzy from entirely too much tequila. "You alright?" his voice held a note of concern in it and it forced me to give him a weepy smile.

Nodding, I let my head roll to the side again, looking out the window, "I will be... Just need some sleep, I think."


	23. Chapter 23

**Go on, tell me how much you love me for posting two chapters. ;)**

CH 23

Mike walked me up to my room once we'd gotten back to the hotel to ensure that I made it safely. I appreciated the thought, though I couldn't help the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I wished it was someone else…

"Hey." I heard him just as I was about to close the door. I looked up, blinking teary eyes at him.

"I uh… Thank you, Mike." I rubbed my head, willing the fogginess of my mind to clear. "The date was amazing and uh… Tonight…" I shook my head, thoughts still stuck on the other man that I so wanted to be seeing tonight. Tears stung my eyes and I laughed bitterly, "Thanks for bringing me home…"

He pushed the door open slightly and quickly pulled me into a hug. I felt his hand on the back of my head and I let myself shudder a sigh into the lapel of his jacket. He pulled me back and stared at me with those icy blues. "If you need anything, you call me, okay? I don't care what it is. I'm right down the hall." His voice was strong and sure of itself. He was sincere. I liked that about him. Mike joked around a lot with me, that's why we were friends, but he knew when it was time to be serious. Unlike some people. Some people by the name of Phil Brooks.

I felt the first of a river of tears make its way down my cheek and I willed the rest not to overflow the damns just yet. Not until I was alone. My smile was shaky and I nodded, "I will…" I told him, lip quivering. "I'll uh. I'll see you at the airport in the morning."

Mike nodded, smiling softly as he reached down to kiss my forehead, "Happy birthday, Charlie." With that, I watched him walk down the hallway before slowly closing my door.

I stared at the white paint of it as I chained the latch of the door shut before I felt more of the effects of the alcohol I had consumed wear off.

One tear, two, three, four… They were streaming now, down my face and I reached a shaking hand up to wipe them away but to no avail.

As I unzipped my dress and threw it to the floor, I made my way to the bathroom, my whole body trembling with the force of holding back sobs. I didn't want the people next door to hear me, so I waited until the water of the bathtub was running loudly before the first loud whimper escaped my mouth.

After that, there was no stopping anything as I pulled the plug for the shower and forced myself into the porcelain tub. I was sobbing uncontrollably, shaking and could do no more than curl myself into a little ball beneath the streams of steaming water.

I felt pitiful. Here I was, all alone in a hotel room in a city I'd never been to before in my life, crying in the shower, feeling the after effects of the mass amount of alcohol I'd ingested in the course of just half an hour or so. Thank God I'd had a big dinner before downing 3/4s of the bottle of tequila. Now I was left almost completely sober and wishing to God I could just drink a bit more. Just enough so that I could pass out and not think.

But I didn't really want that. I had passed out entirely too much due to alcohol in my life. And maybe that's why I had gotten so angry with Punk. I guess it wasn't really that he had been so moody beforehand. I mean, it frustrated me, yeah, but what had really tipped me over the edge was his comment about my drinking habits.

"Fuck…" I sobbed, leaning against the wall, letting the water fall onto my face. I must have looked a mess, but I was way past caring at this point.

I had done it again.

I had fallen for a guy that was an asshole. But this time he had actually seemed to like me. For a while there, I was actually convinced. He'd even told me so himself. But overnight it was like he'd changed his mind. He hated me now. I could hear it in the contempt of his voice earlier that night.

Why would he say things like that to me?

Punk was my friend. At least, I thought he was. He had been acting like my friend. But now this. Now his words held sarcasm and anger and… Hurt? What was he hurt over? What had I done?

"_Mike wouldn't want my sloppy seconds on that too_"

His words rang in my head.

Sloppy seconds on what?

Punk and I hadn't done anything but kiss-

Had he seen Mike kiss me before we walked into the party?

"SHIT!" I slammed my right fist into the wall and saw one of the square inch tiles pop out of its place. As I looked down at my hand I saw where the corner of the loose cut of glass had caught me, causing a large cut across two of my knuckles and some bruising to form.

I groaned, not at the pain but at the familiarity of the situation. This was most definitely not the first time I'd caused damage to one of my hands after a mass consumption of tequila. You'd think I would have learned to leave the stuff alone by now, but I hadn't.

I turned the water off and grabbed a towel, quickly drying myself before going to get dressed. Black and blue plaid pajama pants, cut up Misfits shirt. I needed ice, gauze, medical tape, and some sort of ointment.

I made my way, barefooted down the hallway to the elevator without stumbling. Funny how pain will sober you up. And the pain was definitely increasing the more sober I became. I slammed my left palm into the down button before clutching my right hand and realizing how stupid I was to not grab a towel or something to stop the bleeding from my cut.

As the doors of the elevator closed, I realized I should probably have just gone to a hospital and gotten the 4-5 stitches it would need, but I was too stubborn for that. Besides, anything other than a piercing needle or a tattoo gun gave me the willies.

I winced as I realized I would have to wrap my hand in my shirt to keep it from bleeding all over the floor of the elevator and sighed as I did so, making my way out into the lobby and up to the front counter.

The woman behind it blinked up at me and stared for a moment, looking almost afraid.

It was at that moment that I remembered thinking how much of a mess I must have looked and then pieced that together with the fact that I hadn't cleaned my face up after leaving the shower. I cursed myself inwardly but bit the bullet, "Do you uhm, do you have a first aid kit up here? A tile in my shower fell out and I uh, I cut my hand."

Her eyes traveled down to my wrapped up hand and she nodded, quickly fetching the kit and putting on top of the counter for me to retrieve.

I thanked her and began attempting to figure out how to grab it and still keep pressure on my hand but before I got anywhere, I saw a large, tattooed hand grab the handle of the kit and pull it off the counter.

I spun around, knowing damn well I did not want to see the arm, shoulder, chest, neck and face that hand belonged to, but stared, none-the-less, up at CM Punk.


	24. Chapter 24

**Writing/posting spree. Who loves me? ;)**

CH 24

"Looks like you could use a hand."

I bit my lip. Don't you dare cry, Charlie, don't you fucking dare. "Since when are you being a gentleman?"

Punk made a face as though the comment had actually hurt his feelings. I would have felt sorry for him any other time, but not after tonight. "Guess I deserved that one." With that he started off to the elevator.

I blinked after him for a moment before realizing that he was making off with the first aid kit that I needed, and following after him.

The two of us were silent until the bell rang to signal the doors opening and only after we were secluded in the small lift did Punk speak.

"I uh… I was on my way to write you a note." His voice was quiet and slightly hesitant.

I felt my eyes widen as I blinked from the floor up to his face, "You were?" I asked, suddenly chewing at my lip ring. He nodded slowly.

"Well, I was at the gym working off some excess uh… emotions and I had some time to think so I decided that I needed to apologize somehow, but I figured you were still at your party." He said, looking over at me. He seemed to take in my appearance and sighed softly, "You look like shit…"

I glared up at him, feeling unnecessarily defensive, "Thanks a lot." I snapped, turning my face away from him.

"I didn't mean that." He stated quickly, "Its just… Your make-up's running and…" his eyes traveled down my body and it seemed as though he notice my hand for the first time.

I, too, looked at my hand and realized that the blood was now seeping through my shirt and dripping onto the floor.

"Shit…" I wrapped my hand up in more of the shirt, and heaved an agitated sigh.

Punk opened the first aid kit right as the elevator reached my floor and pulled out some gauze, wiping the blood from the floor and stuffing the dirty rags into the trash can just outside of the doors.

I followed him out and we walked silently to my room. Once at the door I felt a pang in my gut and let my head fall rather harshly onto the cold metal. "I left my key card inside…" I mumbled the words ashamedly.

I heard him chuckle and I turned around to frown at him but he had already set the kit down by the door and headed towards the elevator. I blinked after him, seething, ready to go off on him, "So you're going to carry it for me and then leave me to sit here in my own idiotic misery?"

He turned to smile at me, walking backwards, "I'm going to get you a spare key. Just wait here and try not to bleed on anything."

He was already in the elevator by the time I got ahold of myself enough to say anything and so I was left in the silence of the hallway.

What in the hell was this? Earlier he was all pissy and treating me like shit and now he was being himself again, acting normal and giving me butterflies and such.

I let myself lean against the wall and slide down it to the floor, still clutching my hand in my shirt. This man had my head whirling with thoughts of him, some good and some bad. I just couldn't quite figure him out. The only thing I truly wanted to know was what was going on in HIS head, but I had a feeling I would never actually get to the bottom of it.

What I DID know at this point was that I wanted to clean my face off. He may have been an ass to me earlier, but he was still Punk. Still the man whose smile made me weak in the knees. Still my friend who went to lunch with me almost every day. Still the guy whose simple touch sent a shiver down my spine. Still the person whose lips I could almost still feel on mine from only a day before…

The ding of the elevator bell made me jump and my heart had barely started to regain a normal pace by the time Punk got to the door and slid the new key card into in the slot. I stood up, thanking him quietly as I made my way inside.

I kicked my dress out of the way, going to sit on the edge of my bed and sighing heavily as I looked down at my hand.

Punk closed the door behind him and walked over to the edge of the bed, setting the first aid kit down before opening it and organizing its contents on the comforter. "You should go wash that off."

I blinked up at him before I slowly started to un-wrap my hand, sighing at my poor t-shirt, soaked in blood. Stupid temper. I blushed for a moment before clearing my throat, "I really hate to ask this but… I need to get this shirt off..." I trailed off, blinking up at him. More pouting, Charlie? Nice.

He simply nodded at me and made his way in front of me as I stood up. My nose wrinkled as I realized, "I uh… Totally spaced and forgot to put a bra on…" He blinked down at me for a moment and then smiled.

"I'll get you a towel."

I watched him exit into the bathroom and come back out with a clean towel. Here he was again, boggling my mind with his kindness. What the hell was he up to…?

He walked back over to me and placed the folded towel between his knees. "Okay, so what I'm thinking is that it'll be easier to pull the shirt off if we go straight over your head. So once I get it up and over your left arm, you can keep pressure on your right hand and I can wrap the towel around you."

I felt my cheeks burn but I nodded anyway and let him wrap his arms around me. He grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it up and over my head, letting me wiggle my left arm free of the hole. I was almost in shock as I saw him turn his head, literally closing his eyes and unfurling the towel before maneuvering it around me into a wrap and tucking the corner into the side.

He turned back to look at me and smiled, "Think that'll work for now?"

The look on my face must have been nothing short of idiotic as I stared at him, eyes wide, and nodding silently. He was ridiculous! How many men did I know that would have been THAT respectful in a situation like this? The answer is very easy.

None.


	25. Chapter 25

**I want to get you guys up to chapter 29 so you'll stop being angry with me.**

**Part of why I'm writing/posting so much today.**

**PLEASE DON'T KILL ME FOR THE END OF THIS CHAPTER.  
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CH 25

It took me a good five minutes of wincing and groaning to get the blood off of my injured hand, revealing a nice little jagged cut. It was about an inch and a half long and probably as deep as almost a half an inch at certain points. Of course I would be lucky enough to punch the one tile that was already loose enough to pop out of the wall.

I made my way back into the main room with a less than happy look on my face, gingerly holding my right hand. Punk ushered me over and I watched his eyes grow wide, seeing the cut.

"What the hell did you do?" he asked, eyes darting up to my still messy face and back to my hand.

"Cut it." I answered shortly, gritting my teeth as he gently touched the skin around the injury, checking it out.

"Well no shit you did, I mean how." He said, glancing back up at me as he moved me to sit on the bed and grabbed a cotton swab and some antibacterial ointment.

"Uh… I… Tile fell out of the shower and I cut myself." I said, still avoiding the whole story.

He stopped as he pushed a piece of the skin back and stared up at me sternly, "You should probably get part of this stitched…" he said, very serious.

I frowned at him, knowing damn well my blood alcohol level wouldn't show up nearly as sober as I was feeling. "It'll be fine." I hissed, watching him raise an eyebrow before going back to dressing the wound.

"You know you're going to have to tell me what you did to get this eventually right?" Punk wasn't looking at me as he spoke, but placing a sheet of gauze over the cut lightly before starting to wrap it up in stretch tape.

I blinked at him, "Wasn't aware we were still that close." I said, still a bit on edge with him. It didn't help that my head wasn't COMPLETELY clear just yet. I was almost there, but there's only a certain amount of sober you can gain after that much liquor.

His head popped up to stare at me, face to face. My heart starting beating wildly in my chest and I willed it to stop before it became so loud he would hear it.

The looked he was wearing nearly ripped said heart in half. One could almost describe it as devastated. "You seriously think I meant any of that…?" he asked, voice low.

I took a deep breath, to keep my own voice from shaking with the wild beating in my chest, "How could I not?" was about all I managed to get out.

"Charlie…" He got up from his knees, where he'd been kneeling in front of me, and sat next to me on the bed. "I'm sorry…" I could see sincerity nearly dripping from his lips at the words and it made me nearly ache to hold him.

"I… I know that but… What you said…" I felt my lips tremble just at the thought and I shook my head, closing my eyes. "You can't say things like that to me. You don't know what or where I've been. You don't know anything about me." The words were almost a painful realization that I didn't know too much about him either.

Punk blinked down at me for a moment, almost perplexed, "What does that have to do with any of this?"

I frowned now, looking away, "It has everything to do with it." I told him solemnly, "And if you knew anything at all about me, you would know that." How could we have spent so much time together recently and somehow not have learned a damn thing about each other?

I watched his face contort before he placed a hand lightly on my knee. I had half a mind to jerk my leg away from him like he'd done to me earlier that evening, but thought better of it. "You're right." He sighed, "You're right, I don't know that much about you. But what I do know is that I'd like to." His words caught me off guard and I felt my mouth fall open slightly as I looked at him.

"Charlie," he grabbed for my left hand, "I know I didn't quite act on it today, but what I told you yesterday, I meant it." He laughed for a moment, "You should know me well enough to at least know that I don't get serious very often."

I rolled my eyes but couldn't stop the smile that slipped onto my face. "I guess you have a point…" I admitted, smiling up at him after a moment. It was really hard to stay mad at him when I was sitting this close.

"I always have a point." He grinned at me before he began to lean towards me.

My breath hitched in my throat as I let my eyes flutter closed, but what came next wasn't exactly what I had prepared myself for.

"You reek…"

I opened my eyes to see a look of mixed anger and disgust on his face. Seeing my look of confusion his bit at his lip ring angrily.

"You smell like alcohol. Reek of it, actually."

My heart sank. The look he was giving me made me want to crawl into a hole and die. I couldn't say anything. Not a word.

"What happened to not drinking anything?" He backed up on the bed, his face stony.

"Things kind of changed." Was all I could force myself to say, watching him carefully.

"What? Shit didn't go your way so you decided why not wash it down with some booze?"

I felt my nostrils flare and the familiar sting of tears in my eyes once again.

"Shit." His eyes were wide as he tried to grab for my hand again. I snatched it away from him and stood up, ignoring the rush that greeted me as I did so.

"Get out." It was all I could do to keep my voice calm.

"Charlie, I didn't mean it like that. I just lost my temper."

"I said get out." I was pointing to the door with a trembling hand.

"Charlie, please, just-"

"I said get the fuck out of my room."

The look on his face alone would have brought me out of my rage if he had commented on any other subject.

"If you'll just let me-"

I shoved him square in the shoulders with all of my might, causing him to stumble, and I ignored the sharp pain in my hand as my fists clenched instinctively.

"GET OUT!"

He stared at me and I hated him for seeing me cry. I hated him for talking about things he knew nothing about and I hated him for making me fall for him.

"Charlie…"

"Leave. Fucking leave now. FUCKING GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" My whole body was shaking with adrenaline and I watched him through a fog of emotions as he retreated out of my room through the door.

I stood there for a moment, staring after him, dumbfounded that the same occurrence had come about twice.

Still trembling, I made my way to get my phone, dialing AJ's number and waiting for her answer.

"Charlie? Hey girl, are you alright?" she answered, laughing at something someone must have said.

"A-are you and Eve back to the hotel yet?" I stumbled over my tears.

My friend grew deadly serious on the other line, "Yeah, we just pulled up downstairs."

"Is it alright if I come stay with you for the night?"

I heard whispering and Eve's voice before AJ started back over the phone, "Sure thing, we'll be right up. You can go ahead over to our room, okay?"

"K."

The call ended and I shoved all of my things messily into my bag. I grabbed a clean tank-top and made my out the door and down the hallway to my friends room.

I wasn't sure why I felt the need to stay with them, I had no plans to tell them what had happened, but for whatever reason, the thought of staying by myself tonight was just highly unappealing.


	26. Chapter 26

**So this chapter is kind of an explanation to answer a few questions that I feel may have popped up for you guys.**

**Still on my writing spree so keep an eye out for 27 soon!**

CH 26

Surprisingly enough, the girls caught one look at my face, still streaked with mascara, and my hand, and decided it best not to ask questions until I was ready to talk about it.

Though I never said anything to them, I was thankful for this. I had way too much buzzing in my mind right now to try and understand my own thoughts enough to explain it all to them, and so I stayed the night in their room, sharing a bed with AJ.

When morning came and I had to get up, I was silent, taking my shower and leaving my friends with a simple goodbye before heading back to my room. I grabbed my flowers and luggage, and headed out to my rental, silently thanking God that I didn't see anyone on my way there.

I was looking better this morning after cleaning myself up a bit and I wasn't feeling quite so pitiful. Well, except for the headache taking revenge for my tequila consumption the previous night. I felt pretty pitiful about that.

I made it to the airport easily and got my suitcase checked in and on its way before I got a chance to sit down at my gate. I quickly went for the large copy of Jane Eyre I had with me and began to press each of my roses individually into the pages.

I had learned to press flowers when I was young and had made it a habit to press any flowers given to me on an important date. While my birthday hadn't exactly ended too well, I still thought the flowers and card were a lovely sentiment.

I saved the red rose to press for last and sighed softly. I wished desperately that it hadn't been Mike who'd sent me the flowers. I had expected Punk to at least give me SOMETHING as a gift but I suppose that was too much to ask of him.

My hand twitched and I frowned. Apparently, thinking about said straight edge superstar made me agitated. I wonder why.

I looked to the large digital clock above the desk of my gate and noted that I was almost painfully early. Good. I needed the time to myself to think.

I guess now that I've caught you all up at least to me sitting aimlessly for about half an hour I can fill you in on a few things. I'm sure you have plenty of questions that need answering.

So why was I so mad at Punk?

Here's the deal, I had already told Punk- however briefly- about my previous abusive relationships, but I never got around to telling him about the worst of it.

It started out as a seemingly innocent encounter.

"_You went out drinking tonight?"_

_I blinked over at my boyfriend, sitting on the couch of my apartment and shrugged at him. "I guess you could call it that. I didn't really have more than a few shots. I really just went to hang out." I told him easily._

_A frown crossed Ross's face, but I brushed it off, slipping my shoes off by the front door and setting my coat over the back of my recliner. "What? It's not like I got plastered or anything." I laughed but slowly let the sound fall off as I saw the look on his face._

"_Yeah, not this time." He was staring at me intently and it made me slightly uncomfortable, so I went to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. "But what about next time? You know girls who cheat are almost always drunk? And then they try to blame their bad decisions on the alcohol."_

_I was standing next to my refrigerator when I laughed, "So you're jealous, because you think I'm going to cheat on you?" I called to him, filling a glass with ice and then with filtered water from the front dispenser of the fridge._

"_It's not funny, Charlie, you know Jessica ended up cheating on me." I heard him stand from the couch and I downed part of my water before setting the glass on the counter. _

"_Honey," I watched him walk into the kitchen and went to him, wrapping my arms around his neck, reaching up onto my very tip toes to kiss his cheek, "I'm not going to cheat on you."_

For some reason I can't remember when it all started. The beating, I mean. Him hitting me when I came home from a night out with friends. I think there was just a simple instance of him grabbing me roughly by the shoulders and forcing me to promise I hadn't cheated. There was more than that, but it all seems to blur together now that I look back at it.

It was all little things at first. Things that I felt I could forgive him for. I already knew he had some control issues, we'd been friends before we started dating. I was well aware of all of this. It wasn't until things started getting worse that I realized that I had already been digging myself a grave up until now.

"_Where the fuck were you?" Ross stood quickly from the recliner as soon as I had shut the door._

"_I told you I was going out with Amanda tonight." I told him, once again kicking my shoes off at the door and tossing my jacket at the chair he'd just been sitting in._

"_Yeah, but it's 2 in the morning. Why the hell have you been gone so long? You get off work at 5 on Thursdays. 5pm to 2am, Charlie? Seriously?" He was close to me now, nearly pinning me to the door._

"_Well, yeah." I blinked up at him, confused and a bit defensive, "I haven't seen Amanda since she moved to California for school. That was 2 and a half years ago. We had a lot of catching up to do."_

_He slapped me. Hard. The force of it turning my head to the side and forcing tears to my eyes, "Don't you fucking lie to me." His voice was a growl._

_I turned back to look up at him, tears falling down my face, "Ross, what the fuck?"_

_He grabbed my cheeks roughly, pushing them together, fingers digging into the space between my teeth and bruising the flesh there. I whimpered and tried to get away from him but he forced my face up towards his. "Tell me where you were."_

"_I was out with Amanda! We went to Kerby Lane to eat and then to Friends for a few drinks!" I grabbed at his wrist with both of my hands but couldn't pry his hand off of my face._

"_So you were out drinking again?" he took this moment to slap me again._

_I whimpered, now shrinking back against the door, "N-no!" the tears were falling fast now, not just out of pain but out of fear. What was going on with him?_

"_I said don't fucking lie to me!" Ross grabbed a handful of my hair and I yelped, once again reaching up to grab his hand, but to no avail._

"_Ross, stop it, you're hurting me!" I sobbed._

"_Like you're trying to hurt me going out and fucking any guy you want to!"_

"_What? N-no! I was with Amanda-!"_

_His closed fist caught my jaw and I screamed, crumpling to the floor in a heap._

I don't remember much else about that night other than Ross locking me into my own bedroom. I wasn't allowed out the next day and the day after that I was forced to stay in the house. And the day after that. And the next. Until the major bruising on my face had dissipated. I missed a good 4 days of work.

After some time it got to the point that even if I had just gotten home from work, Ross swore he smelled alcohol on my breath. Even when I wasn't drinking.

And if I HAD been drinking, I was cheating on him. All night long with different men. Apparently I was a slut. Too bad no one had told me about it.

It got to a point that eventually I did my best to come home as drunk as I could. See, the thing about being drunk is that it dulls your senses. All of them. Not only does it make you less aware of what's happening but it actually dulls the feelings in nerve endings all over your body.

To put it bluntly, if I was drunk, it didn't hurt as bad when he hit me.

I managed to keep it fairly hidden to. Ross wised up and started hitting me on my torso and legs. Places that I kept hidden with clothing anyway. At first I stayed with him out of fear, but after he had a psychotic breakdown, I contacted his family and they had him institutionalized. It was only after he was back in Nebraska, where his family lived, that I revealed what I had been experiencing the past four months of my relationship.


	27. Chapter 27

**No, but seriously, don't hurt me. ._.**

CH 27

While I have my fair share of traumatic stories to tell, I count myself as one of the lucky ones. Some women are stuck with men for years on end facing never ending abuse, things that I've only ever had nightmares about worrying if Ross would ever go that far.

I suppose I was never an alcoholic persay, but I drank to keep the pain at bay, and having Punk say he thought I was an alchy made my skin crawl and my stomach turn. Ross had always told me that I had problems. That I needed to get a hold of myself and stop drinking so much. That if I would just "put the bottle down" our relationship would be fine. But I knew it was a lie, he would be violent with me regardless of if I was drinking or not.

Maybe that's why I felt a surge of electric anger when I saw the man who had just sat down next to me.

You guessed it. Punk had just made his way over to the gate and taken his choice of seat right next to mine. This agitated me, because it wasn't like there weren't plenty of seats far, FAR away from me.

"Can I talk to you?" his voice was low, calm, and apologetic.

I turned to look at him, face as blank as I could make it, "I don't know, can you?" I made to stash my book away back into my bags and began to gather my things. I saw him roll his eyes and felt my frustration with him escalate, "Listen, unless you have tea and a bagel, I don't want anything to do with you."

He opened his mouth to say something but I was already walking away before the sound actually came out.

My comment about tea and food had more been to get him to shut up than anything, but upon second thought, it actually sounded pretty awesome. So I weaved my way through the crowds until I found a Starbucks and made my way inside.

Once I had received my tea and coffee cake, I wandered my way back to the gate. Punk was still sitting in the same place, one leg crossed over the other and his arms rested across his chest. He seemed to be lost in thought, but looked up as I made my way past him.

But I had spotted Mike, sitting over by the windows. I shot Punk a look, almost daring him to speak, but he stayed silent and I was able to smile at the man I was now approaching.

"Hey good lookin'." I winked at him and Mike laughed, moving his things so that I could sit next to him.

"Happy day after your birthday."

I laughed at this, rolling my eyes, "You sound like my mother." I told him, setting my bags down and sipping at me tea. I sighed softly, "Sweet mother of Jesus, that is good."

I heard him laugh and he began rummaging through his bags, while I got comfortable, folding my legs up underneath me until I was sitting Indian style in the small chair.

My eyes wandered from watching Mike, gazing over at Punk, who caught my eye, he was watching us. I hadn't honestly expected any less, but I quickly tore my gaze from his, feeling irritation seep through my emotions.

"So, what exactly are you looking for?" I inquired of the man beside me, setting my tea on the floor while I pulled my hair into a ponytail. I wasn't too fond of the idea of having my naturally wild hair while Mike was around. I may have been in a rut, but I still wanted to look good. Especially for someone who supposedly liked me.

The thought caused me to look over at Punk again. He wasn't looking at me this time, but he seemed to be watching Mike and as the blue eyed man finally seemed to find what he was looking for, I saw the straight edger's gaze darken.

It was then that I turned back to Mike and felt my eyes widen. In his hands he had a small box, rectangular and fairly flat. "What is this?" I asked, staring up at him now, a smile creeping across my face.

"It's your birthday present. It wasn't quite ready yesterday, so I had to pick it up this morning." He informed me, handing it over.

"Mike!" Just the fact that he had gotten me something made me lean over to give him a quick hug, "This is so sweet, you didn't have to!"

He grinned at me and I saw something move in his features.

"What?" I asked quizzically, but he said nothing and simply motioned for me to open it, and so I obliged.

Inside the box was a necklace, sparkling white gold chain that was elegantly twisted around a piece of soft black leather. In the middle, three charms hung. Two white gold letters, encrusted in what I was almost positive were tiny diamond chips and a black pearl to separate them. I felt an instant tug at my heart as I said out loud, "C, M?"

From the corner of my eye I saw Punk shift uncomfortably in his chair.

"You know my last name is Gallagher right?" I said, half laughing.

Mike laughed, nodding and grinning as he reached forward, taking the necklace from the box and motioning me to turn around. I did so and let him clasp it lightly around my neck. It fell so that the charms lay just in the divot where my collarbones met.

"So I get the C, but why M?" I awaited his explanation, trying with all my might not to look at Punk who was all but leaning from his chair to listen to us.

"What's my name?" he asked simply.

I blinked at him, "Mike…?" I asked, laughing at the randomness of the question before it dawned on me.

"Charlie and… And Mike…?"

He nodded at me slowly and I felt the heat rise up my neck and into my cheeks. I must have been bright red when he grabbed my left hand in both of his. "I like you a lot, Charlie. Last night only confirmed that to me so I made a call and had the extra charm added on. I want you to be my girlfriend."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If I should just sit there, rip the necklace off or throw myself into his arms. And so I settled for just staring at him for a moment with my mouth open.

Mike laughed for a moment, squeezing my hand lightly, "Well?"

The laugh that came out of my mouth was more nervous than anything before I simply nodded, "Yes. I mean, of course. I would love that."

His smile brightened and I could have sworn I saw his eyes dart over to Punk just as mine did before he pulled me in to a hug and planted a light kiss on my forehead.

Okay.

So that just happened.


	28. Chapter 28

**Okay, but seriously. Erika and Miserlou get like 293983275923874 gold stars for their reviews today! I love it!**

**Seriously made my day, you guys, so here's another chapter!**

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CH 28

Had I been any other girl in the world, being the girlfriend of the Awesome Miz would have been like heaven. But I wasn't any other girl in the world. I was Charlie. And Charlie was a girl from Texas who was inwardly a tom-boy and listened to punk/rock/alternative music and preferred a night at home re-watching Sweeney Todd and singing along like a lunatic over going out to eat at 5 star restaurants.

I couldn't exactly complain, I mean, Mike was lovely and a sweetheart. In the three weeks we'd been dating already, he had lavished me with gifts. Be it trips shopping with no limit on his credit card, or a new lens for my camera, he always had my happiness in mind. I guess the thing that bothered me was, as amazing as all of those things were; they hadn't exactly made me… Happy, per say.

I guess I couldn't honestly say I'd been happy since my birthday. Not the party, or the date, but my phone call with Punk. Telling him about my stupid journey around Boston and practically HEARING his smile over the phone. I had barely seen him since that day at the airport, let alone seen said smile.

Well, I saw him smile through my camera all the time, but that wasn't a real smile. That was his TV smile. His signature smirk, and handsome though it was, it didn't give me butterflies like his real smile did.

And that's another thing. Mike didn't give me butterflies. Maybe it just took time. I mean, being… sensitive as I was in relationships, maybe it would just take a while for me to warm up to the idea of being affectionate again. Right?

But I did like him. He was sweet and handsome and treated me practically like royalty. I mean, I couldn't exactly complain, especially when I looked down around my neck to where my camera was to admire my new wide angle lens.

A smile sneaked its way across my face as I walked down the hallway, admiring just how shiny the new, unused plastic of my lens was. Mike had said he had just bought what the salesman had suggested and I felt the need to tip my hat to whatever salesman he had talked to. I felt my hand snake itself up to clasp onto the necklace gently bouncing on my chest and sighed heavily, shaking my head with an almost sad smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

I was interrupted from my musings, however as I came colliding into a soft surface. I realized with a start that the surface I had just careened myself into was a person. "Shit, I'm sorry." I laughed, kneeling down to pick up the two water bottles they'd dropped on the floor at the force of my impact. "You'd think after a while I would learn that I need to look where I'm going back here."

As I gathered the bottles and tilted my head back up to stand and properly apologize, I felt the words I had been formulating melt away.

Punk looked down at me and offered out a hand to help me up, though I didn't take it, instead standing shakily to my feet and simply staring at him.

I wanted to say something, anything, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. My brain was stuttering on just making my heart beat properly. I hadn't been this close to him since he'd sat next to me in the airport.

"Uh… sorry." There. At least I'd said something.

"Nah, its fine." His eyes shot to my necklace before he glanced down at my camera, trying to find what I'd been so distracted looking at. "New lens?"

I wanted to smile, to be proud of it and show off what my boyfriend had bought me, but all I did was nod slowly, avoiding eye contact and instead looking at my camera and picking it up from its hanging position to show him, "Uh, yeah. Mike uh… Mike… Got it for me…" I chewed at my lip nervously and swallowed, the action seeming to take much more effort than it normally would have.

"Oh." I watched as he switched his weight over to his other leg before he cleared his throat, "Listen, can we talk?"

Walking away dejectedly. Having to defend myself from some stupid comment. Staring stupidly at the floor. Making lame small talk. Those were all things that I had been prepared to do, what had completely caught me off guard was his question, and I found my head jerking up to look at him.

I finally caught his eyes and instantly wished I hadn't. I couldn't say that I hadn't missed him over the past weeks, because I had. I missed his sarcasm and our joking. The way he would linger a little bit too long when he hugged me or how he would brush up against me "accidentally" if we were standing too close. But I had also been holding on to quite a bit of pent up anger. In my head I had built up a long list of reasons why I was angry at him, and now suddenly, standing in the middle of a deserted hallway on my way to the tech crew, all of that disappeared just by looking into those stupid hazel eyes.

"I uh… I need to…" I was waving my camera around stupidly and I noticed his lips twitch as though he were about to smile or laugh, but he seemed to notice as well and caught himself.

"It'll just be a minute." He stated, glancing around the empty hall of the arena and opening one of the bottles of water, nervously downing about half of it.

Empty hallway, guy I used to like, butterflies in my stomach, already had a boyfriend. What could go wrong?

"Alright."

His lips curled upwards in a one-sided smile. I forced my eyes away from his face, determined that staring at him was probably not within the best interests of my current relationship.

The two of us stood there for what must have been a full minute in awkward silence before he shifted his weight again and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry."

I blinked, first down at my feet, which I'd been staring adamantly at, and then up to his face. I searched his eyes, expecting something to falter within them, but they simply shined with the halogen lights streaming from above us. I swallowed, plucking up a bit of courage, "For what?"

Punk made a slight face at me and I realized that my retort had sounded less snappy and more stupid or forgetful. "For everything?"

I reached a hand up and ran it through my hair, "I mean, what specifically?"

He continued to look at me with the same face, eyelids blinking lazily at me, almost like he couldn't decide what he wanted to say to me.

After he remained silent for what I felt was too long I let out a sigh, "I just want to hear you say it." I shifted uncomfortably now, crossing my arms on the top of my stomach, just below my camera.

His lips pursed together and it almost seemed like the words tumbled like a sarcastic waterfall before he could stop them, "I thought the problem was that I said way too much." He tried and failed to hide a smirk, but it nearly vanished when I cast him a weary glare.

"No. I want to hear you say that you were a complete jack ass for making the same mistake twice in one night." I retorted, feeling the flair of my temper in the pit of my stomach.

It was his turn to look away from my eyes this time and he heaved a sigh, "I know. I was… an ass, I mean… A big one…"

"HUGE." I corrected him, unable to stop the grin that tugged at the corners of my lips.

He looked up at me, seeming to gauge my reaction slowly before he smiled. A real smile. My heart nearly stopped beating and in that moment I had to make a nearly physical effort to remind myself of Mike's very, very blue eyes.


	29. Chapter 29

**Soooo I've been SO excited to get this chapter up! **

**Hehehe. I'm hoping you guys enjoy it, I have a feeling you will. Lol**

**I looooove my reviewers, you guys seriously make my day like all the time. :)**

**I hope you'll all stick with me for a little while longer, everything is starting to fall into place! :D**

CH 29

As much as I would have loved to hold onto my grudge against CM Punk, I had to admit that I was all but elated to be friends again. Though I'm pretty sure Mike didn't share quite the same sentiments.

"After everything he said to you?"

Mike's voice was fairly perturbed as I listened to him from the bathroom of our now shared hotel room.

I heaved a sigh, taking off my make-up from the day, staring almost determinedly into the mirror. "Yes, after everything he said to me." I called back, keeping my tone casual. I didn't want to have an argument, but Mike knew how much the falling out with Punk had upset me and I was a tad on the miffed side that he wasn't going to at least be happy for me.

"Charlie…" I heard the sheets of the bed ruffling as he got up, bare feet padding lightly against the carpet and soon he was walking into the bathroom, leaning on the in the doorframe.

He was quite the vision, standing there in a pair of basketball shorts and no shirt. Sure, I saw him shirtless all the time, but that was through a camera lens and this, this was something no one else saw. He wasn't in wrestling attire. He was ready for bed and was waiting for ME to come to bed with him.

We hadn't done anything sexual as of yet, maybe because of my uneasiness in the relationship or maybe it was because of the fact that every time he kissed me, I couldn't help but miss the feeling of cold metal.

Either way, none of that was enough to keep me from staring over at my boyfriend with a grin.

"You're pretty." I told him, tossing my make-up remover into the trash can and moving to lean up against the counter with my hip, arms crossing beneath my chest.

He rolled his eyes, but his lips curved upwards into a smile as he made his way across the bathroom to wrap his arms around my waist. Placing a small kiss on the top of my head, I craned my neck up to look at him. "I just don't want him saying anything else to upset you."

His eyes held sincerity and I couldn't help but smile up at him, "I trust Punk. Granted, he tends to misplace his frustrations, but I trust him. He apologized and we're okay now."

I watched those thin lips falter in their smile and I sighed, standing up on my tiptoes to place a kiss onto them, "It will be fine." I spoke against his lips and felt them jerk upwards again. I smiled softly as well and kissed him again before setting myself back down onto the balls of my feet. "Let's go to bed."

Mike nodded silently and let me walk past him before grabbing hold of my hand and following me to the queen sized bed in the middle of our hotel room. I climbed in on the far side, situating myself amongst a large array of pillows and sighed softly, glad that he couldn't see my face as he snaked his arm around my middle. I blinked down at his hand before lacing my fingers with his as I did every night, finding the skin to be almost painfully void of ink.

_I was enthralled at the feel of a mouth placing hot, wet kisses down the side of my neck and onto my collarbone. Everything in this moment was perfect, the way our bodies writhed together even with the layers of clothes between us, the way his hand fisted in the right side of my hair, and especially the way the cold metal of his lip ring felt as he glanced across the bone barely covered by skin. Nothing could have been better than this. Nothing._

_Until he pulled away from my chest, leaving me to make a soft whining sound. He pushed himself upwards on my body and I came face to face with beautiful, deep hazel eyes. He was so close to me, blinking languidly, his chest touching mine each time he pulled in a nearly shaking breath. I could have sat there all day staring into those eyes, memorizing each stripe of green and gold, but I didn't have time as he pressed his mouth to mine._

_My breath hitched in my chest and I felt my heart flutter as though it were a bird, ready to take flight from the restriction of the cage that my ribs made around it. His lips were perfect, soft and supple and warm all except for his lip ring and I felt myself smile into his kiss wondering if he felt the same shock of cold metal from my own lips. _

_It was as if he read my mind as he took the ring into his mouth with his teeth and tugged, eliciting a soft moan from my throat. I felt his tongue run along the length of my bottom lip before slowly, almost hesitantly slipping its way into my mouth. The sensation drove me wild, the velvety smooth warmth of the muscle moving until it found my own tongue and rubbed along the side of it. The moan that came out of my mouth was low and appreciative, and as I fought my own way to get our tongues into his mouth instead of mine, he answered the noise with a low growl of his own that made muscles low in my abdomen contract. _

_I showed my approval of this by letting my hand run its way up his back and into his hair, caressing the strands lovingly. I felt his breath shudder against my mouth as he pulled away and I couldn't stop the slight pout that pulled at my features. He smiled at me, teeth and all, before balancing himself on one forearm as not to crush me where he laid on top of me, and moving his free hand up to touch my cheek softly._

_The touch sent chills down my spine and I fought hard to keep my breathing only partially ragged. I stared up at him, gazing into those hazel irises, entrance by them so much so that when he spoke, I jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. _

"_I love you."_

_I felt my mouth drop open a tad, heart suddenly hammering so hard in my chest that I was sure it would literally break my ribs to escape its confines. "W-what?" my voice was a pant, a whisper, faint and stunned._

"_I love you, Charlie. And I'm sorry for everything. More sorry than I've ever been in my life." He told me, running a light finger down my cheek and across the line of my jaw. "I know you said you'd forgive me, but I want to make it up to you. I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you, but I have to start somewhere." His hand inched its way down my neck and chest until it rested at the waist band of my jeans._

_Had it been anyone else, I would have slapped the tattooed hand away instinctively, but in this moment, with him of all people, I just sat there, still gazing up at him, "You… You really… L-love…?"_

_He chuckled at me, grinning, and my heart melted when he placed the chastest of kisses on the tip of my nose, "I do."_

_His hand moved over, fumbling lightly with the button and fly of my jeans before sliding his hand beneath the denim and soft cotton fabric of my underwear. I gasped and he moved to kiss me. The kiss was light, gentle, and full of emotion, enough emotion that my eyes began to fill with tears. All this time, he'd felt this way and I'd made him think that I hated him, when in all reality…_

_My thought was cut short as his fingers found their destination and he waited for a moment, pulling away to look down at me, "Are you ready, Charlie?"_

_Charlie?_

_Chaaarlie?_

Charlie?

"Charlie?"

My eyes fluttered open, heart still pounding wildly in my chest as I saw, not hazel, but blue eyes looking at me. Mike was kneeling next to my side of the bed with a soft smile, "There's my sleeping beauty." He leaned forward to kiss my forehead, ruffling my hair.

I stared at him, swallowing and forcing a false smile, still trying to grasp what I'd just woken up from.

"I have to go to the arena for a meeting about my match on Monday. I just wanted to let you know before I left." He said, cupping my cheek in his hand.

This motion, however vaguely familiar from my dream, did not send my heart into an overloading tizzy. I simply nodded, blinking sleepily at him.

He grinned, kissing the top of my head and then standing, crossing the room, and I didn't dare to move until I'd heard the door shut behind him.


	30. Chapter 30

**Here's another one. :)**

**Hope you guys are enjoying it, though I think you are from your reviews.**

**Y'all seriously have no idea what it means to me to read them. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you SO much.**

CH 30

By the time Monday rolled around, I had been avoiding Mike as much as I could manage at work. Well, I had kind of been avoiding everyone. Except for one person.

Punk and I had taken the same plane to Ohio earlier that day and so we'd spent the majority of the day together, catching up on the three weeks we'd missed out on and just talking.

It was almost comical how much I had missed him and not even noticed. What I did notice, though, was how he didn't stand nearly as close to me as he used to, or how he would avert his eyes from mine.

But that was neither here nor there, it didn't matter who I'd spent my day with or who I'd been avoiding because currently, I was sitting at the monitor bank backstage with Mike, munching on a quarter sandwich silently.

"You alright?"

I blinked up to glance over at my boyfriend, forcing a smile, "Of course I am, why would I not be?" I asked, doing my best to look as though the question was random.

He watched me carefully, finishing off the water bottle he'd had in his hand, "You've just been really quiet… And I haven't really seen you much except for nights at the hotel but you just go straight to bed." His voice sounded almost cautious and I felt my heart race pick up a bit.

"I guess I've just been busy with work." I said, pointing idly over at my camera which was sitting in the chair next to me.

Something flashed in Mike's gaze, something looking slightly like anger and I felt an all too familiar knot build in the pit of my stomach. I spoke quickly before he could, "I'm sorry, babe, I'll see if I can get covered for tonight after your match and we can go do dinner or something, how's that?"

His expression didn't change immediately but I saw the frustration dissipate slowly before he gave me a half-hearted smile, "I'd like that."

I smiled at him, a genuine one this time, but it was one of relief. What about men being angry made me so anxious? Hmm. I wonder.

Before I could continue on with my bitter train of thought, I felt a hand clap onto my shoulder and a familiar voice rang into my ears, forcing a large smile to form.

"Okay, so now that your camera is with you and not in your hotel room, let me see it." Punk settled into the chair right in front of me, casting a quick wave at Mike who did nothing but nod at him.

I smiled, wrinkling my nose, "Why are you so fascinated with my camera all the time?" I asked through the last mouthful of my sandwich, handing my camera over to him.

He turned it carefully in his hands before pulling it up to his eye and starting to take pictures of anything around the room he could find.

I saw one of my fellow photographers walking past and I rushed over to him, "Hey, Todd, could you catch the main event tonight, Mike and I want to go out for dinner."

He blinked at me for a moment and I pouted at him, "It's his hometown." I added, doing my best to pull puppy dog eyes."

Todd laughed, rolling his own eyes, "I guess I can." He said, grinning and shaking his head. I smiled, patting his shoulder before I turned away calling an enthusiastic thank you.

As I made my way over to tell Mike, Punk pulled the camera up to me and I made a face for him to take the picture. He looked at the preview that came up on the screen and then frowned, causing me to worry a bit, so I walked down his aisle of chairs to check it out.

"What's up?" I asked, trying to hide the worry in my tone as I tucked my hair behind one ear and leaned over to have a look.

"Why's this one blurry and the others aren't? Do I really suck that bad? Or does you camera just hate me?" He said, flipping from picture to picture before coming to the one of me.

"Were you moving?" I asked, laughing and he scrunched his nose at me.

"I don't know, I was sitting right in front of you, you tell me. Was i?"

I rolled my eyes at him, hitting a button to go back to capture mode. I examined the front of my camera and then nodded at him. "Okay, see here?" I pointed to a small switched with two settings A and M. "It's on manual focus, which means that you have to focus it yourself."

He blinked at me slowly and I laughed and pushed the camera up to his eye, "Aim at the vending machine." I told him, standing behind him but leaned over to where my head was right at his shoulder. He nodded to indicate that he had the object in sight. "Okay, so it's pretty easy. Like using binoculars." I told him reached over to grab his left hand and positioned it on the lens, "You turn it left to focus on things farther away," I rotated both of our hands on the lens and felt him tug a little more until he got whatever he wanted in focus, "And then to the right for things up close." I moved our hands to the right and he grinned.

He turned around and I stood back up, smiling at him as he pointed the lens at me, twisting it around until he was satisfied and I heard the click of the shutter. He grinned down at the picture, "That's a good one."

I blushed and smiled, "Aren't they all?" I asked with a soft laugh, rolling my eyes and turning to look at Mike who had a fairly petulant scowl on his face. I felt my brows furrow but pushed on, anyway. "So Todd said he'd cover Cena's match." I smiled, waiting for his expression to change.

It did, but barely and he nodding, standing, "I'll see you after my match then." He stepped forward and planted a hard kiss on my lips. I felt a blush creep slowly up my neck and I swallowed, biting at my lip. Sure we'd had PDA before but it was just pecks on cheeks. That had seemed a bit out of place.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Mike glanced down at Punk, that same sort of scowl crossing his features, "Good luck. You'll need it. I'm pretty pumped up tonight." That's right… Mike's match tonight was against Punk…

The older man looked up at my boyfriend and smirked, "I've told you before, Mikey," my eyes widened and I turned to Mike to make sure he'd keep his temper in check at the unwanted nickname, "Luck is for losers."


	31. Chapter 31

**Shit goes down~**

**Merry Christmas Eve to all of my lovely readers! I adore you so and I hope the holiday season finds you well!**

CH 31

The match was incredible, Punk and Mike seemed to have so much chemistry in the ring, but something seemed off about it. More than once I caught a picture of the two of them bantering back and forth.

It was all dismissible until I saw Punk mouth my name before Mike threw back something that I only caught as "my girlfriend", before Mike took a firm fist to Punk's face.

His nose spouted blood immediately but Mike didn't seem to notice, pulling him into a Skull Crushing Finale. But Punk wasn't ready for it. I watch him at least manage to turn his head at the last minute, avoiding his already injured nose, but the noise the side of his head made when it hit the mat filled me with dread.

I hadn't gotten any of it on film, my camera had been dropped down to my neck and I shoved it off to one of the tech members as the bell was rung and Mike was announced the winner. The crowd, of course, went crazy, seeing as he was from Ohio, and he gloated about on the ropes before getting out and walking down the ramp.

Punk staggered to his feet, hand trying desperately to wipe away the blood and before I knew it, I was around the ring, waiting next to the stairs. He stumbled out of the ropes and then down the steels steps. My arm was instantly around his waist. "Phil, are you okay?"

I watched as his eyes blinked, as though he was having trouble seeing me.

Shit.

"Come on." I braced myself to help him walk painfully slow up the ramp. The fans were screaming and chanting his name and I knew that he would have appreciated it if he could have actually heard them.

Once backstage I took his face into my hands, "Punk." I watched his eyes strain to focus on my face, but he finally blinked and I snatched a towel from a trainer who was trying to get me to move and pushed it against his nose.

He held it in place and I hushed the man who was continuing on about "I'm a trained professional, let me handle this."

"I spent a year following my father around in a trauma unit before I went to college, back off!" I was shouting and didn't even realize it. The man backed away and I held Punk's shoulders now with shaking hands. "Can you hear me?"

He nodded, squeezing his eyes shut at the feeling of movement. "Can you see me okay, or am I fuzzy?"

I reached a hand up to open his eye lids wider, staring at his pupils. They were even, dilating every now and then to get me into focus. "Barely fuzzy now," He replied, his voice was thick with the blood that was undoubtedly pouring down the back of his throat.

A knot somewhere in my chest loosened at hearing his voice. Suddenly, tears were swimming in my eyes, blurring my vision and I blinked them away, letting them run down my cheeks. "Follow my finger?" I held up a shaking hand and he grabbed it with the hand he wasn't using to hold the towel to his nose.

His fingers laced with mine and I felt my shoulders shake with a silent sob, "Charlie, I'm fine. This is my job, I take injuries all the time." He let go of my hand to touch my cheek and just like my dream last week, my heart lurched forward into a surprising pace. "I'm okay, alright?"

"You're sure?"

He started to nod but thought better of it, "I promise, okay? I've had worse injuries." He assured me.

I let out a shaking sigh and nodded, "They'll probably take you for an MRI to make sure you don't have any sort of bleeding. And maybe splint your nose. I can come with you, if you want."

He chuckled at me, "How do you not have an ulcer yet?"

I rolled my eyes, "Had two in high school when I started applying for college." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Well, excuse me for not knowing your life story."

I scrunched my nose at him, "For someone who could potentially have hemorrhaging in his brain, you're being obnoxious."

Punk smiled, reaching to ruffle my hair, and the action made butterflies erupt in my stomach. "Just because it's you."

I couldn't help but laugh, looking up into his eyes once more, "You're sure you're okay?"

"Charlie, go away. Shoo, vanish." He was now shooing me away with his free hand and I reluctantly stepped away and instantly a medic was in front of him, giving me a rather annoyed look.

I let a hissing sigh run through my lips. Knowing that Mike must be in the shower, I decided I would wait to scream at him until later. Instead, I occupied my time tracking down my camera and then grabbing my bag from the locker room.

AJ blinked at me as I walked in, thought I wondered why, not yet realizing that I had a nice blood stain from Punk's nose on my left shoulder. "Charlie…? Is everything okay…?"

I blinked up at her with tired eyes, "Huh? Yeah. Mike just pulled a finisher and Punk wasn't ready for it so I had to go make sure he was okay."

Eve was the only other diva in the room and she too looked up from her make-up bag before gasping.

My brows furrowed in confusion before AJ pointed to my shoulder and I frowned heavily, "Dammit…" I took my blazer off, sighing, "Does blood come out of tweed…?" I asked, remembering that this particular jacket had been a gift from Mike.

AJ shrugged before clearing her throat, "Did uh… Did you say Punk got hurt? And you helped him…?" she and Eve exchanged quick glances and suddenly I realized that I hadn't talked to either of them since the Thursday house show the week before.

"I forgot to tell you guys that we made up, didn't I?" I asked, laughing to myself as I folded my jacket and placed it into a plastic bag before putting it into my duffle.

Eve laughed, turning around to lean on the counter in front of the wall mirror. "You may have conveniently forgotten that one, yeah."

I gave her a laugh and a half smile, putting my camera safely into its travel case before hoisting both bags up onto one shoulder. "Well, he apologized and we're friends again." I said the words a bit too quickly, nervously.

"So how does Mike feel about that?" AJ had settled herself down on the bench in front of her cubby.

I bit my lip, mulling it over before sighing. Their words right before everything had gone wrong popped into my mind and I grimaced, realizing what had caused the altercation, "Not too great, I'm guessing…"


	32. Chapter 32

**Okay wow. The holidays were insane! **

**I'm soooo sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've had some serious writer's block on a chapter, but I'm trying to work it out!**

**Uh... Happy new year? :)**

CH 32

"My hand fucking HURTS."

"I wonder why…"

"Punk's got a seriously strong jaw."

"You didn't hit his jaw, you hit his nose. Or at least his cheek NEXT to his nose. Either way you probably busted a blood vessel. Otherwise he wouldn't have been bleeding that badly."

Mike cast a weary glance over at me, frowning. "He'll be fine." His eyes wandered back to the road as he drove.

"Yeah, if he doesn't have intracranial bleeding." My tone was snappy and I was staring out of the passenger side window with my arms crossed.

"I doubt he even has a concussion. He just didn't remember it was coming."

My head snapped so hard a nerve in my neck caught, but I didn't have time to stop and nurse the pain that stung all the way down my spine, "He didn't even KNOW it was fucking coming because you punched him in the God damned nose, Mike." There was venom dripping from my words and I watched him slowly look over.

"The match was supposed to end in a Skull Crushing Finale. He knew that." He replied easily, though his tone held both annoyance and apprehension.

"It was also supposed to make it all the way through a commercial break." My nostrils flared as I turned to stare back out the window.

"Well…" he trailed off, deciding that if he left it alone, I might not be mad at him.

He was dead wrong.

"You could have seriously hurt him…" I said seriously, looking over at him out of the corner of my eyes.

His countenance didn't even falter and I felt my temper spark once more.

"You're not even sorry are you?"

He said nothing. He was ignoring me now.

"He was bleeding everywhere and when I took him backstage-"

Mike turned to look at me, something clouding his eyes, making them a darker shade of blue. I bit my lip, heart suddenly speeding up. "You took him backstage?"

"Of course I did, he was bleeding all over the place and he could barely see at first."

"How do you know that?" he was looking between the road and me.

"Because I asked him when I was checking him out." I swallowed as I saw him clench his jaw.

"Why, may I ask, were you checking him out when that's the medic's job?"

"I was worried about him… He… He hit his head really hard…" It was getting harder to breathe as I saw his anger rising.

"Why were you so worried? He's a wrestler, shit like this happens to us all the time." His voice was low and eerily calm.

"He's my friend… I-"

"Is he really your friend? Because you two seemed awfully touchy before Raw tonight." He bit back.

I stared at him, swallowing hard. "Of course he's my friend… I was just showing him my-"

"I've seen the way you look at each other, Charlie, I'm not an idiot!" his voice suddenly filled the car with a boom, startling me.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" It all came flooding back into my memory and I was finding it hard to get proper breaths.

"You're a fucking liar and you know it!"

"I'm not! He's just my friend! We hadn't even talked until last Thursday!" My hands were trembling, holding onto each other in my lap until my knuckles turned white.

"And then you had a plane ride all alone with him to Ohio?" he stared over at me as we stopped at a red light.

How had he known…?

"So that's a yes, then?"

I nodded slowly, watching as he turned a corner.

"So you fucked him?"

"What? No!" Those words hit the panic button inside my head.

"Then why do you give a damn about him and his head if you haven't even slept with him? Why does it fucking matter-"

"Because I fucking love him!"

I watched Mike's face grow dark before I heard the click of the doors unlocking and felt the car jerk to a sudden stop. "Get out."

I stared at him, only the sound of my heartbeat ripping through the silence.

"Get out of the car." His voice gained a bit of volume and he reached over to unfasten my seat belt.

I sat, frozen to the spot and watched him get out of the car and walk around the front of it to my side. He wrenched the door open and grabbed my bags, putting them on the sidewalk outside. He then grabbed me by my arm, forcing tears to brim in my eyes.

"Mike…" I pleaded with him but he yanked me from my seat and nearly flung me away until I fell to the cool concrete outside.

"Mike?"

He slammed the passenger door shut and turned to look at me with a snarl. He then stalked towards me and I let a sob escape my lips, trembling as he leaned down and grabbed the chain around my neck. He yanked and it broke away, allowing him to pull my necklace off before he huffed his way back around the car.

"Mike! What are you doing?"

He said nothing, merely casting one last look at me before he climbed into the car and slammed the door shut after him, peeling out down the street and leaving me there, cold and alone.

My lip quivered as I looked around, slowly standing and pulling my bags onto my shoulder. As I turned in a circle to get my bearings, already shaken, I froze on spot. A familiar club loomed before me and I was standing right in front of a painfully familiar alleyway.

I couldn't believe it. It was bad enough that I was back in Ohio, in Cleveland, but how could it have been possible for him to drop me off in the exact same place…

I stared in horror before backing up until my back hit the brick wall. It was only fitting that we were on the outside of downtown, allowing there to be not too many people walking along the streets.

I tried my best to take a breath but found my lungs to be constricted, probably by my heart which felt like it was literally about to explode in my chest. Everything was closing in around me and I heard someone let out an exasperated sob only to find out that it was me, now whimpering as tears stained my face.

This wasn't happening.

This couldn't really be happening.

Not again.

It took me a good five minutes to realize I needed to call someone.

It took me even longer to manage to find my phone in my bag with my shaking hands. I pulled it out, staring at it for a moment, like I'd forgotten how to use it before I slid the bar across the screen to open it and find the little telephone icon.

My eyes flashed through the names on favorites. Mom. No. Dad. No. Mike. Not a chance. AJ. No. Eve. With AJ. Until they fell on the last name.

I touched it, watching the screen move to call the number and pulled my trembling fingers to hold my cell up to my ear.

I was braced up against the wall, eyes squeezed tightly shut, heart pounding in my ears so loud that I could barely hear the ringing and then when the ringing stopped and the voice on the other line answered.

"Hey ulcer lady, seriously, I'm fine. We already went to the hospital, no concussion and my nose isn't broken. I'm okay. Just enjoy your date with-"

I cut him off, not quite managing to choke back a sob into the phone before I spoke, voice shaking and desperate.

"Phil…?"


	33. Chapter 33

**GOD THEY'RE CUTE.**

**In other news. I'm stuck on writing Chapter 35, so if I get you guys all caught up, we're all going to be screwed, so this will be my last chapter for a few days. Lol. **

**Writer's block may seriously be the death of me!**

CH 33

"Charlie…?" Punk's voice was cautious, almost confused.

"Punk…" My own voice was quiet and my body shook with another strangled sob.

"Charlie, what's going on?" his voice went from quiet and subdued to panicked at light speed.

"Mike…" I took in a shuddering breath and coughed up another whimper, sliding down the wall, unable to hold myself up anymore.

"The fuck did he do to you, Charlie?" His voice was raising and I cried harder at the anger in his tone.

"Kicked me out of the car." I gasped out, beginning in a familiar back and forth rocking pattern, pulling my knees tightly up to my chest.

"He what?" I heard Punk force his voice to calm down, seeming to realize it had upset me.

I choked back more sobs, trying to speak clearly, "He kicked me out of the car. Downtown." I shuddered, suddenly shaking my head furiously and sobbing louder than before, "He… Punk… The alley…"

Silence greeted me on the other end of the line and I cried out desperately, "Please don't hang up!"

"I'm not." His voice was suddenly somber. "What alley…?"

"The… The alley that…" I sobbed into my free hand, wishing with every fiber of my being to not be there anymore, "Punk, please…"

I heard rustling in the background and voices before he spoke again, "You stay on the phone with me, you hear? I'm on my way, right now."

Wind came through the receiver and I knew he was outside somewhere, walking.

"Hurry… Please…" My whole body was shaking as though I'd been left in a pile of snow, but it was early June; there was no snow, no real reason as to why I should have been trembling so badly.

"I'm coming. Right now. I'm on my way, okay?" The door alarm of a car and the starting of an engine. "You stay right where you are."

I nodded, not even seeming to notice that he couldn't see me. I couldn't have moved even if I wanted to. I was stuck there, frozen to the spot. Sitting only feet away from the alley where I had almost…

That man…

"What if he's here…?" The words were no more than a whisper.

"What? Who? What if who's where?"

"That man… The one… Punk, what if he still lives back there…? What if he sees me…? What if…?" the tightening of my throat cut me off and I made a horrid whining sound as more tears slid down my face.

"Don't even say that." His voice was calm but stern. "He's not and nothing's going to happen. You're going to stay exactly where you are and I'm going to come get you. Do you hear me? Nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let it." Something about his voice sounded odd, in a way. Like it was strained.

"Please… I can't… I don't want to be here…" I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and buried my face into my knees. I didn't want to look around, to see my surroundings. It was all too familiar, and not for any of the right reasons.

"I'm coming, Charlie. Don't worry. I'm almost there, okay?" That same strained quality answered me through the speaker into my ear and in the back of my mind it clicked that his own throat was tightening, strangling his vocal chords in the effort to keep his emotions in check. He was trying not to cry.

I spent the next five minutes sobbing into my knees- with the occasional comforting word from Punk over the phone- sometimes softly, sometimes loudly, and other times making whimpering noises between breaths. Everything about this was just wrong.

"Charlie?" Punk's gentle voice in my ear.

"Please come get me… Please…"

"I'm almost there. Where are you? Which…" He sighed, "Which side of the alley?"

The mere mention of the alley made my eyes fly open in fear and my body shake violently almost as though I were convulsing.

"The… the… Club." I managed to push the words out through my panic before another wave of sheer terror washed over me like a cold shower. "Punk… Please… Don't let him… Don't… Oh God…" My hand began shaking so bad that I felt my phone slide out of it onto the ground, but I couldn't react, couldn't grab it.

I was stuck there, wrapping my arms around my middle and shaking as I rocked. This just wasn't real. It couldn't be. I had just gotten to the point that I was stable after the incident and now here I was, right back in the same alleyway.

"Charlie? Charlie! Charlie, what happened?"

Punk's voice was far away, almost sounding muffled from where it lay on the ground.

"Charlie Gallaghan do you hear me? Charlie!"

I sobbed, shaking my head as I continued to rock myself, desperate for some form of comfort, but nothing came. I could barely breath, my heart was surely on its last leg and I couldn't stop shaking. Or crying for that matter. The tears were seemingly in endless supply and I simply couldn't stop. Couldn't calm down. I could swear that the entire world was crashing around me.

A literal scream tore itself from my throat as a hand was placed on my shoulder.

"Don't! Please, don't!" I shouted, flinging myself away, sobbing out at my assailant, begging.

Until I allowed my eyes to open.

Hazel eyes stared back at me, bloodshot, and set in a face filled with worry. Punk reached out a hand to me and it was a matter of seconds until I had scrambled across the sidewalk and into his arms, sobbing messily into his shoulder.

A wave of relief hit me like the feeling of being covered in a warm blanket, and I let my fists ball themselves up in his shirt, my entire being still trembling and shaking with the effort of desperate sobs.

"Shhh." His hand cradled the back of my head and he didn't even try to move, simply kneeling there on the side walk and holding me close to his body protectively. "Everything's okay now… I'm here… Shhhh… Charlie, it's alright…"

I pressed my ear hastily against his chest, listening intently for the rhythm of his heart, and upon hearing it, I felt a knot in my chest ease slightly, though not untying itself completely.

He let go of me with one hand and I clung to him even harder as he reached out for my bags, tossing them over his shoulder and then picking me up bridal style, "Come here…" his voice still held that odd strangled sort of sound to it, but it was calm, and I took comfort in it as he carried me over to his car, getting me settled into the passenger seat before walking around and getting in.

The car lurched and he took off for the hotel, his hand reached across the center console and I grabbed for it frantically, my own fingers still shaking. I curled myself into a ball and leaned against the door, continuing to let out small whimpers.

By the time we'd made it back, I had mostly calmed down, except for the steady stream of silent tears that I couldn't quite get rid of, and the shaking of my hands. Punk offered to carry me in, but I declined, walking along next to him quietly, clutching onto his arm as he carried my bags for me.

At one point we passed the room that I had shared with Mike the previous evening and I felt the tightness building back in my chest, a soft whimper emitting from my throat. Punk pulled me over to his other side, away from the door and wrapped his arm around me, "It's alright." His voice was almost a whisper, and soon we were at his room.

He slid in his cardkey and opened the door, ushering me inside before setting my bags down on the table. "Do you want me to call AJ?" he offered softly, watching me as he bolted the door shut.

I shook my head slowly, simply staring at the floor, standing in the middle of his room.

I could hear him sigh as I watched his feet make a path over to his suitcase where he then grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a well-worn Rancid t. "Let's change, huh?" he said, walking over to me and holding the items out.

I nodded, taking them from him with a shaking hand, and taking a shuttering breath in.

He smiled at me, going to grab a pair of basketball shorts and a simple white t-shirt and making his way to the bathroom.

I didn't move until I heard the door shut, and only then did I set the new clothes down on the bed. With shaking hands I reached up and unbuttoned my blouse. I changed as quickly as my still trembling body would allow and then started at folding my clothes and setting them on the table. Once I was done I went and sat on the edge of his bed, staring down at my now bare feet.

The sound of the bathroom door opening made me jump, but I calmed my racing heart and looked up to meet Punk's eyes. He gave me a sad smile and walked over, holding a wet wash cloth in his hand. Upon making it to the bed, he sat down next to me and turned my head towards him with a gentle hand.

The cloth was warm and soft and I welcomed it with a soft, shaking sigh, closing my eyes and letting him clean the smeared make-up from my face. After a while I figured he was doing it more to comfort me than anything, and I wasn't about to make him stop, but he did, brushing the hair from my face before I felt his lips meet my forehead ever so lightly, a bare brush of skin.

My eyes fluttered open to look at him and he cupped my face in his hand, "You wanna lie down?"

I nodded slowly and watched him carefully as he set the washcloth on the bedside table, and moved to pull the covers of the bed down. I blinked my eyes at him slowly, taking in his actions and logging it away in my mind to thank him profusely at a later time. But for now, I was just going to crawl up the bed and settle myself underneath the plush comforter and let him climb in behind me.

I allowed myself to get comfortable on my left side, knees pulled up and arms held tightly to my chest, when I felt his body behind mine. His arm slid slowly across my waist and pulled my back protectively against his chest. I found myself moving slightly until I my body fell into a perfect shape against his. I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath and finding his hand. I looked down at it, habitually lacing my fingers through his and the smile that tugged at my features was involuntary as I saw the massive amount of ink that had been laden into his skin.

"Punk…?" my voice was hoarse from the tears I'd shed not long before.

"Mmm…?" his own voice was tired and I knew without looking that he hadn't even opened his eyes.

"Thank you for-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." His voice was calm and slightly lazy with sleep and once again, a smile crept its way across my lips.

"Tomorrow?" I asked, now taking my free hand to trace the designs on the back of his hand.

"Tomorrow." He consented softly, pressing a kiss into the back of my head. "But tonight, just go to sleep."

"I don't think I-"

"You hush." He cut me off again and I let out a laugh that was more like a soft push of air from my nose. "You're lying here, in my arms and I'm not letting anything happen to you, understand me? Not ever again..."


	34. Chapter 34

**Dear Lord, don't kill me! D:**

**I am SOOOOO sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I've had writers block like you wouldn't even beleive!**

**But the good news is, that it's gone and I'm almost done with the story! There's about three more chapters left. Well... More like two and an epilogue of sorts.**

**I so hope you guys have enjoyed and I have one question that I'd like your feed back on.**

**Charlie and Punk, sexy times, or no sexy times?**

**You guys tell me. :)**

**Enjoy!**

CH 34

_I was almost out of the alley as I kicked a crushed beer can into the wall. I looked up when I noticed that a foot caught the can right before it crashed into the trash and bricks._

_I looked up, trembling immediately at the realization of what I was about to see, but the face that met me when I looked up was one that I had grown familiar with, almost fond of until that night._

_Mike was staring down at me, his foot resting on the beer can I had just kicked. His blue eyes were icy, cold, and unfeeling and the emotion behind them made my heart stop in my chest._

"_Mike, I-"_

_I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence before he shoved me backwards against the brick wall of the alleyway. My head hit first and I saw stars, my vision blurring and only finally clearing when I felt a hand around my neck._

_I coughed, desperate to breathe but looked up to see Mike, his large hand reached up around my throat, constricting my airway as he leaned in to steal a kiss from my lips._

_I would have gasped, had I been able to breathe. I felt tears gather in my eyes before running down my cheeks, still trying desperately to pull air into my lungs, but between the hand closing off my windpipe and the mouth pressed devilishly against mine, I couldn't do it._

_My eyes were wide open, darting around the alley. Where was he? Punk was supposed to be here. To save me. But the abandoned brick walls showed no signs of the shadow of my savior. _

_Mike's hand finally released my neck and I coughed hard, sputtering for breath, an immediate sob emanating from my mouth. He looked down at me and grabbed the collar of my shirt before tearing it right down the middle._

_No._

_I yelped as he pulled me forward, yanking at the hem of my jeans and popping the button open, ripping the zipper down and a strangle sob washed over me._

_He couldn't do this._

"_Punk!"_

_He should have been here. He had to stop this… He couldn't let Mike…_

_The man in question had already begun to undo his belt, dropping his pants and underwear to his ankles before spinning me around shoving my face into the wall. I whimpered, trying to push myself away from the bricks but with no success._

_I felt my own pants being shoved down and I could do nothing but cry into the dirty wall that my face was pressed against. "Punk… Please… Where are you…?"_

_His body pressed up against mine and I could feel something hard poking into my back. I didn't want to think about it. He couldn't really do this. Punk couldn't let him._

"_He's not here. He's not coming. Your straight edge savior has left you for dead" His body lurched forward and I opened my mouth to scream-_

I jolted upright, eyes wide as I stared straight ahead. I was fighting to breathe; coughing and spluttering as I felt hot tears stain my cheeks and a sob pull itself from my gut.

"Charlie?"

There was an immediate hand on my back and I heard rustling and felt the bed move as Punk sat up, pulling me into his arms instinctively. "It was just a dream…"

I stayed stiff against his body for a moment, heart pounding against my ribs, still staring straight ahead.

"Why didn't you save me…? He was… He was going to-"

I as cut off as he pulled me closer to his body, forcing me to relax into his chest and once his familiar scent hit my nose, I felt my body calm. I was okay. It had all been a nightmare. I was still here, safely tucked away in Punk's room with his arms wrapped around me in that protective manner. I was fine.

A shaking sigh slid from my lips and I nuzzled my head into his collar bone, shifting in the bed so that I could wrap my arms tentatively around his waist. I felt something in his own body relax and he sighed softly as well.

"You alright?" He loosened his arms around me slightly and I craned my head upwards slowly to look at him, nodding silently.

He smiled, reaching a hand up to wipe away my tears, "You cry too much."

I frowned at him, opening my mouth to retort before he cut me off.

"It's like you don't think I'm going to take care of you, or something." He was wearing that smirk of his and I felt my mouth twitch upwards at the corners.

"Smartass…" I sat up, wiping my own face and running a hand through my hair, rolling my eyes.

He grinned, "I could be a smart one or a dumb one, you pick." He said; shrugging, moving until he was sitting, propped up by a few pillows.

I shook my head at him, laughing "Aren't you supposed to be sympathetic or something?"

Punk paused for a moment, tapping a finger on his chin thoughtfully and the simple action had me laughing softly. "Hm… I picked you up last night… Lent you my clothes and let you sleep in my bed…" he blinked over at me, hazel eyes sparkling in the light streaming in from the window, "Nah, I think I'm all out of sympathy." He grinned.

Wrinkling my nose, I slapped at his leg, stretching lightly and sighing. It felt good to be awake in a day that wasn't the horror of yesterday. "Can I shower?" I asked, standing up and stretching a bit more, waking all of my muscles up as I arched my back.

"Only if you want to smell like a man." He grinned from his spot on the bed.

I rolled my eyes, "You realize they have hotel shampoos and soaps right? I don't have to use your stuff." I raised my eyebrows at him, making my way over to the bathroom.

He surveyed me for a moment before speaking, "So what are you planning on wearing when you get out?"

I took a moment to think about being indignant, but then a thought struck me and I felt my face pale a bit. "I'm going to have to go get my things…"


	35. Chapter 35

**Happy Valentine's Day!**

**Don't kill me!**

CH 35

"If you're not back in five minutes I'm coming to get you." Punk was leaning against the wall next to the door as my hand shook slightly on the doorknob.

I forced a laugh, not that I was amused at all. I was actually happy for his protective words, swallowing hard as I finally opened the door, "I'll be fine." I told him, though I think I was more trying to convince myself than him.

"Charlie." He grabbed my arm as I took a step out of the door, forcing me to blink back at him, ignoring the rapid beating of my heart. "Be careful." His look was serious and I did nothing more than nod before I stepped out into the hallway, keycard in hand.

I think the further away from Punk's room that I got, the harder I began to shake and by the time I had stopped in front of Mike's door, I could barely manage to get the damn key into the slot, though after a minute of trembling hands, I managed it at last.

The light turned green and I heard the tumblers moving around before I took one last deep breath and opened the door.

Mike was lying in bed as if he'd been expecting me, his expression bored, border lining annoyance. Blue eyes lifted from the screen of his phone to my face and I felt as though I'd been frozen in mid-step. "Thought you'd have come back last night." He looked back at his phone.

I was thankful for that because it allowed me to keep walking in, heading towards my suit case as I swallowed, "I stayed with someone else." It was the truth, just not quite all of it, and he seemed to know that as his eyes looked back up at me and he finally set his phone down.

"AJ and Eve?" He asked, sitting up slowly.

I shook my head, shoving a few of my things into my luggage before kneeling down to zip it up.

"Beth?"

"No…" I chewed on my lip nervously as I set the suitcase up and pulled out the handle so that I could wheel it away as fast as my legs would carry me.

"You called him, didn't you?"

I froze, complexion paling slightly, "W-who?" the word was no more than air leaving my lips.

"Punk." His own voice was low and still.

I felt the remaining color drain from my face and my heart jumped up into my throat. My head moved up and then down in a minute nod.

"Slut."

My head snapped to stare at him and I felt my pulse quicken, "Don't call me that."

"Why not?" He swung his legs over the side of the bed, leaning back onto his arms behind him and looking at me as though the conversation we were having was completely casual. "You have a plane ride with him all alone, spend the day with him, hang all over him right in front of me and then spend the night with him after telling me that you're in love with him." He shrugged, "I'm just calling it how I see it, and how I see it is that you're a cheating whore."

I clenched my jaw together, my fear of the man before me turning quickly into a rage. "Don't fucking call me a whore." Now it was my turn to have a tone that was low and dangerous.

I watched his face twist upwards in a cruel sort of smile. "Have I hit a nerve… _Charlotte_?"

My nostrils flared involuntarily and I took a long, slow breath. "I'm leaving now." And I started towards the door, tugging my bag behind me until he grabbed my arm.

Panic flared through my brain, but I stood my ground, grinding my teeth. "What? So you'll play me and sleep with him, but not stay here and fuck around behind Punk's back? Am I not good enough for you or what?" His fingers gripped into my arm a little tighter.

"No, it just so happens, that he actually apologizes after he acts like the biggest dick on the planet." I snapped, staring up at him defiantly, "And I didn't have sex with him. I was too busy freaking the fuck out because my boyfriend kicked me out of his car and left me stranded in the middle of mother fucking Cleveland, Ohio of all places."

"Ex-boyfriend." Mike corrected me, his face stony.

"Fine by me." I said, pursing my lips together and turning to leave again.

I made it just outside the door when I was face to face with Punk. We both blinked at each other for a moment before he spoke.

"I was coming to get you." He said, wearing a look of mild concern.

I offered a tired smile, "No need, I handled it." I told him easily, grabbing my suitcase and rolling it behind me as I started down the hall towards his room.

He lingered in front of Mike's door for a moment before turning to follow me. "So, what do you mean by handled it?"

I let him walk in front of me to unlock the door of his room and waited until we were securely locked inside before I spoke. "I got angry instead of crying." I offered with a soft laugh, setting my suitcase down on the floor and walking to the bed. I sat down with a soft sigh, running my hands through my hair as though it would relieve the stress I had just been feeling.

Punk's tone of voice told me he had his eyebrows raised, more than likely in an expression of surprise. "Well… That's… Uh…"

"Unexpected?" I offered with a tired laugh, looking up to see that I was right about his surprised eyebrows.

"I was going to say great." A smirk sneaked its way across his lips.

"I'm sure you were." I scrunched my face up, ruffling my hair before standing. I stared at the suitcase on the floor before moving to unzip it and rummaging through it until finding my beloved copy of Jane Eyre. I felt a sigh escape my lips as I flipped open one of the pages and pulled out a familiar black card and a flat, dried up, red rose.

"_You're one in a million, you stick out from the crowd and in a sea of ordinary people, you bring excitement into my life. Happy birthday, Charlie." _

I heaved a sigh as I read the words, rolling my eyes and standing, only to be forced to remember that I still had a book in my hands. As the tattered novel fell to the floor, the twelve pressed white roses spilling out and onto the ground.


	36. Chapter 36

**So, this chapter has made my life miserable for like a month. BUT I FINALLY FINISHED IT.**

**YES.**

CH 36

As the roses hit the carpet, the petals separated, leaving me with an even bigger mess, which caused a soft "Fuck…" to escape my mouth.

Kneeling down, I began to sweep the roses into a pile, hearing a stirring behind me before Punk knelt down beside me. He picked up one of the petals and peered at it for a moment before a smile stretched its way across his features. "So, you did get them."

I blinked up at him from the mess I'd created, a look of confusion more than obvious on my face. Apparently I didn't have to ask for him to continue. "The roses. You said you got flowers and didn't know who they were from. You never said thank you, so I figured either you never figured it out, or someone else sent flowers and just forgot to sign the card." He laughed, the action was almost nervous.

I blinked back down at the roses scattered across the carpet, "These… You…?" I reached to pick up the little black card I had dropped, now examining the handwriting almost critically.

"Yep, that's mine!" He laughed again now, still reaching to pick up the petals. "What… I said something sappy like…" he reached back somewhere into his memory for a moment, "You bring excitement into a boring world? Something like that, right?"

My eyes snapped up to stare at him. "But Mike said… I mean, I thought he had sent…" everything fell into place after a moment. "Fucking asshole!"

"What? I know it wasn't exactly poetry but I put a lot of effort into it!" Punk had stopped gathering flower petals and was staring at me indignantly, now.

I took this moment to nearly memorize every line on his face. All this time, I had been led to think these flowers had been from Mike. A present before our date. Something sentimental. And now, sitting here on the floor of his hotel room, I find that Punk, in all reality, HAD given me a birthday gift. And seeing now who it was from, it was just perfect. Everything about it. The arrangement, the words on the card, the colors, all of it.

Scooting myself across carpet, I watched him move to sit flat on the floor instead of kneeling, his eyes searching my face as though he was trying to figure out what was going on inside my head.

He had all of about three more seconds to study my actions before I grabbed him by the back of the neck and planted my lips firmly against his.

I'm sure that if I'd thought things over a little more before-hand, I wouldn't have gone through with it; but when I felt him crane his neck into the kiss, I had to thank my instincts and momentary lapse of self-control, though I wasn't thankful for very long.

With a seemingly large amount of will power, he pushed me away, eyes fluttering open to look at me in shock. "Woah, woah, woah!"

I blinked slowly, momentary panic flaring through my blood, "No kissing?" I asked, backing up a bit.

Punk shook his head, then seemed to think better of it, "No… I mean… Well, yes kissing… I mean, I WANT to kiss you, but I've had a few too many concussions with my job to understand your logic. Two seconds ago I was a 'fucking asshole' and now you're kissing me. Did I miss something, or are you putting things together in your head and not letting me in on them?"

"No, no, no. Mike is a 'fucking asshole'." I stated easily, sighing softly. "I loved the roses. Like… a lot. I just." I frowned, glancing down at the now sad pile of slightly tattered petals.

"You just…?" He frowned at me, his brows knitting together in confusion.

"Assumed they were from Mike…" the words were mumbled as I felt my face heat up in embarrassment.

For a moment I couldn't read his expression. It was almost a mix of annoyance and amusement, leaning on annoyance before he broke out into a smile. "And I suppose he had no issues with letting you think that?"

"None what-so-ever…" I frowned, sucking my lip ring into my mouth. Now I was agitated more than nervous. Not only had I been tricked by someone I had trusted, but it had put a very precious relationship in jeopardy. "Fuck…"

I ran a hand through my hair before rubbing my eyes roughly. Suddenly I felt tense. "I'm such a dumb ass."

I heard the stifled laugh and let my eyes wander up to Punk's face.

That damn smirk.

"What?" I averted my eyes form his once more to finished picking up the mess I'd created. I placed a white petal, a red petal and the card back in my book before finally getting the last of the floral carnage into the small trash can next to the table.

"I'm just debating if the consequences are worth agreeing with you or not."

When I turned back to him he was now perched on the edge of the bed, leaned forward so that he elbows rested on his knees.

"Agreeing with me that I'm a dumbass…?" My eyebrow quirked.

The nod he gave me was curt, his grin spreading wide enough that I now saw his teeth, "I mean, you really think a jack ass like Mike could come up with poetic genius like that?"

I had a feeling that my face was contorting between annoyance and indignation, "Okay, first off, you just said yourself it wasn't poetry, and second, I thought he was a good guy until he kicked me out of that damn car!"

I watched Punk's nose wrinkle a bit before he leaned back onto the bed, placing his arms behind his head for a pillow and staring at the ceiling as he spoke. "I only denied my poetic nature because I thought you were accusing me of being an asshole."

"Poetic nature…?" I walked over to stand next to the bed, peering down at him with my arms crossed over my chest. His shirt was raised just enough to see a small line of tanned skin peeking out at me between the hem and his shorts. I felt heat flood my face as I forced myself to stay half annoyed, though it was hard with the allure of smooth flesh staring me in the face.

"I may be the best wrestler in the world, but I do have other talents." He now pushed himself up onto his elbows so that he could look directly at me and what I found in his eyes made my heart flutter.

The look he was giving me wasn't exactly innocent.

I had barely started to think of how I wanted to respond before my mouth took over and the situation was out of my hands.

"Is that so? Like what?"

I could only hope that my voice wasn't shaking with the sudden rush of adrenaline that had been shot through my veins. Where exactly was all of this going?

"Like being a poetic genius, for one." He sat up completely now, the look he gave me spurring my rapidly beating heart. "And for another…"

His hand reached out to touch mine, grab it and pull me forward, close to him. I had to move my legs on either side of his to avoid toppling over on top of him and now my face was much closer than I had expected. Staring into hazel eyes.

"I'm fairly decent at romance when I put my mind to it."


	37. Chapter 37

**Never say that I don't love you guys. :)**

**I super hope everyone is enjoying themselves with the reading! :D**

**Also, yes, they finally cleared the air about the flowers. I hope you're happy. ;P  
><strong>

CH 37

I snorted.

I don't know what possessed me, but in that moment, staring into his eyes, so close I could feel his body heat, I snorted.

"Romance?" I was full on laughing now.

Some dark recess of my mind was screaming curses at me, but it didn't stop the smile that slipped onto my face.

"The man in the WWE most known for being a sarcastic asshole, is good at romance?"

Punk blinked up at me for a moment before he too, laughed. He let go of my hand and playfully pushed me away. "You're mocking my romantic abilities, but you're the one that just ruined that moment." He grinned.

I blinked at him, deciding to play dumb. Maybe it would work and I could somehow escape this increasingly embarrassing situation. "What moment?"

He let out a sudden laugh that caught me off guard.

"What moment? Really? I had you eating out of the palm of my hand!"

Blood rushed up my neck and into my cheeks, "You did not!" I turned my back on him now, biting at my lip desperately.

"I did so!" I heard him stand up as he spoke, following after me as I made my way to my suitcase, rummaging through it for no good reason.

"Did not!" I protested again, turning around to face him with some form of nervous exasperation.

Punk's face was inches from mine. How had he gotten that close without me noticing?

"Did so." His face was calm, low. It sent a shiver down my spine.

I feigned annoyance. "You're being ridiculous." My voice _was_ shaking now.

"So you're going to tell me that when I'm this close to you, that it doesn't create a moment between us?" His voice was growing slightly lower.

I took a deep breath, "That depends on what you define as a moment." This time my voice was steadier, though not without a lack of effort.

I was well aware of my heart pounding wildly in my chest and the feel of his body heat passing through the air between us. Could he feel the shaking of my breath as it left my lungs, the slight trembling of my hands as they hung limply at my sides?

I watched his hand moved slowly upward until it touched my cheek. The warmth of his fingertips seemed to send and electric shock through my entire body. I felt my eyes flutter close and sensed him edging even closer to my face.

When they fluttered themselves back open, all I saw was green and brown. He bent his head just a fraction further and our foreheads touched lightly, causing a sharp intake of breathe on my part.

"I define a moment as something that could very well change the entire course of this friendship."

I swallowed hard, fighting to hold myself together and not melt on the spot. "When have we ever been just friends…?" My bravery coaxed me to whisper.

I saw the smile light up his eyes from this close and he let out a soft laugh, "You really do like to ruin moments, don't you?"

"I-" I started but he cut me off by placing the index finger of his other hand lightly against my lips.

"Charlie…"

My name out of his lips made something low in my abdomen contract.

"Could you shut up for just a minute and let me kiss you? I mean, I'm trying to be smooth about it, but you're making it really hard."

I could feel my eyes widen suddenly, staring up at him and he let out a chuckle from low in his throat. Something about that noise made my knees weak.

He grinned, "I'm going to move my finger and I want a one word answer." He stated simply. I let myself nod before he removed his hand from my mouth and put it on the other side of my face.

My whole body felt suddenly hot and when I opened my mouth, no words would come out.

"Well, that's a first isn't it?" Punk smirked at me and just as I had found my voice to protest, I was cut short once again.

But this time, it wasn't Punk's finger, forcing me silent. It was his lips.

As much as a small part of me wishes that I could tell you that I pushed him away and screamed at him for invading my personal space; that would be a down right lie. As a matter of fact, I'm almost positive that I showed almost zero resistance at all.

The moment I realized what had happened, it was like my body took over before my brain could tell it not to. I found myself melding to his body, my shaking hands reaching up to sit lightly against his chest.

This was apparently the right thing to do, because soon I had a hand at the base of my neck and an arm snaked around my waist, pulling me closer. Our chests touched and my body exploded in tactile overload. He was just so warm, so real, and so very wonderful.

I let my arms wrap themselves around his neck, tilting my head, taking his bottom lip between my own lips. The plush skin was surprisingly soft and supple and I found a small noise forcing itself out of my throat.

Punk seemed to enjoy this, as not a moment later; his tongue darted out to meet my lips. A sigh escaped through my mouth and before I knew it, the hot, pink muscle had worked its way in and was sliding against my own.

The sensation was more than I could handle and another soft keening noise echoed into the room before it was mixed with a low groan coming from my counterpart's own mouth.

My whole body trembled against his and after a moment he pulled away. I blinked for a second before our eyes locked and the sight before me nearly took my breath away. Well. Had I not already been slightly panting, anyway.

Before me, stood a man, 6 foot 1, with brown hair falling messily into the most gorgeous hazel eyes I'd ever seen in my life. His lips were red and plump from our kiss and at the current moment, I couldn't figure out what part of his face to look at first.

Punk let out a slightly wavering breath and smiled down at me, pressing his lips lightly against my forehead, "Didn't you go get your stuff so you could take a shower?" his words whispered against my skin.

I could barely do more than nod with him touching me like this. It took a moment, a hard swallow and a few _very _deep breaths before I found myself able to speak again.

"I guess… Yeah… I'll go do that…"

I blinked up at him with what I'm sure was a fairly dazed expression before I turned and walked straight into the bathroom.

As soon as the door closed behind me, I leaned against the countertop heavily, staring at my reflection.

Was this real or just another dream?

But the rustling from the other room told me that this was all very much real.

Still slightly shaking with adrenaline, I made my way to the tub and turned the water on – cold- before switching it to the shower head and moving away to get myself out of Punk's borrowed clothing.

As I disrobed, I let myself muse over the fact that perhaps it was the long drawn out tension between us that made a simple kiss so seemingly heated. Whatever the reason, I knew fairly well that if I didn't get myself in check, I wouldn't be able to walk back into that room and be near the man whose face was now embedded in my mind's eye.

But apparently that's exactly what he wanted, because no sooner had I dropped the last article of clothing onto the floor, than the bathroom door opened and I was staring into those beautifully haunting hazel eyes.


	38. Chapter 38

**So.**

**Who all is ready to kill me...? **

**I. AM. ALL. THE SORRY. ALL OF IT!**

**I had a fair amount of personal things to deal with in the past few months and I lost basically any and all creative writing ability. ;_;**

**But I'm back with an update! (however painfully short it may be. -.-)**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**The next one will be... _ ... _ Pretty much just all smut. ;**

**You can read it, or skip over it, depending on your preferences. You can even just pretend it's not there and it never happened if you want, but I had quite a few people tell me that they would like to see Charlie and Punk together sooooooooo I'm writing it. **

**I will do my best to get this updated again as soon as possible! As I said before, the story is almost done, BUT I have an idea for a sequel, so I'd like some input on that as well, if you don't mind! 3**

**Once again, thank you to ALL of my readers and reviewers! You're the reason I came back to finish this story, otherwise I might have given up! But your support helped me to push through!  
><strong>

CH 38

"Jesus-!"

I scrambled forward for a towel, only just managing to get it open to at least cover my front before the door closed quietly behind him. Blinking up, I found a whole new kind of smile etched into his features, and while his smirk, his jackass grin, and his caring smile all affected me differently, this smile did nothing but make me want to melt into a puddle on the bathroom floor of his hotel room.

"W-what the hell are you doing?" For whatever reason my voice was low, a yelling whisper, if you will, as I stared at him with wide eyes.

As had happened many other times, I was caught off guard. Once again I found myself wondering what exactly I had been expecting. And once again I had to answer myself with the words "not this".

He stalked towards me with that same crooked smile spread across his face, forcing my heart to leap upwards into my throat. The look in his eyes held something that I couldn't quite read. Maybe because I'd never seen it before. Or maybe just because he was standing in the bathroom while I was completely nude. Who knows?

What I do know what that the thing I mentioned earlier that I hadn't been expecting, was for him to walk up in front of me and wrap his arms around my waist until his hands found my naked back before pulling me flush against his body.

The part of my brain that was occupied by a voice that sounded oddly like my mother was now screaming at me to shove him away and slap him. But the part that now dominated my actions sounded entirely too much like AJ and Eve giggling madly, and so I did nothing more than crane my neck backwards to look up at him, face warm with a rush of blood that had no doubt turned by whole face beat red.

The odd, almost predatory smile now faded into one that held more fond, kindness than anything before he bent his head low to catch my lips with his and if it weren't for the fact that he was holding me in his arms, I'm almost positive I would have ended up on the floor due to the sudden amount of knee shaking that was now happening in my legs.

I barely had enough time to register what he had done before he pulled away to smile down at me once more and everything fell into place in my mind. If I hadn't been beat red before, I certainly had to have been now.

"I… Thought you said straight edge meant no—"

"Promiscuous sex. Correct." Punk gave me a simple nod, reaching up with one hand to push my bangs from my face.

"Then why are you—"

"I don't have one night stands. I don't sleep around. I don't hook up with ring rats. I don't go to strip clubs. I don't get lap dances. I don't pay for sex. I'm not a slut, and neither are the people that I sleep with. Never have been, never will be." He had dropped the smile now and was looking at me with a serious, but kind face.

"Punk, I don—"

Now he grinned, shaking his head. "You ruin all of my moments, Charlie. All of them."

"I do not!" I lightly stomped a barefoot against the tile floor, huffing. I didn't understand how this was a moment. Well, not until I found myself opening my mouth to tell him so.

Was he…?

"Are you…?"

The grin widened and he reached down to kiss me lightly, once more, pulling back just enough so that he could speak, though his words were whispered lightly against my lips. "All you have to do is say no."

"N-no!"

Punk's reaction was quick, nearly shoving himself back from me, a look of, not disappointment, but worry, drawing his eyebrows together.

I heaved an exasperated sigh at myself, holding my towel up with one hand and reaching out to grab his wrist with the other. "Phil."

He stopped dead, turning over his shoulder to blink at my face pointedly.

"I didn't say no." I said seriously, trying to convey my point with the look in my eyes.

Apparently this worked, because I watched a smirk draw across his lips before he spoke again. "Well, actually you said exactly that."

One of my eyebrows perked itself up on my forehead and I frowned lightly at him. "Who was the one that kept killing moments?"

A true smile now, "That would be you." He turned back to me now, drawing me back into his arms and the simple motion sent a shock of adrenaline coursing through my veins. Strong hands reached up and barely had to try to tug the towel from my hand, letting it go so that it fell to a heap on the floor soundlessly.

This was really about to happen.


	39. Chapter 39

**Okay, so I kind of lied. No smut in this chapter. The characters just didn't seem to find it to fit the moment. -kicks them- (I'm sure that sounds crazy, but if you're a writer, you know exactly what I mean.)**

**Anyway, this is a pretty important chapter anyway, and I hope you guys enjoy it. :)**

**I ought to have the next one up tomorrow. 3**

CH 39

I could have opened my mouth to protest. I could have shoved him away and told him this was all happening to fast. I could have said no. But at that moment in time, it was very clear what both of our intentions were, and to prolong the inevitable wouldn't have made those intentions any less true.

Hands found my bare hips, caressing them lightly as my lips were pulled into a kiss that was somehow bruising and soft all at the same time. Or perhaps it was just the emotions put into the kiss that made it soft, because the physicality of it was all hard and heavy.

The next thing I knew, I was being steered towards the showers, Punk releasing both my hips and my lips to pull his shirt up and over his head.

If I had been almost any other woman in this situation, I would have kept my mouth shut. If.

"So how long did you have to practice that little trick to make it work so smoothly?"

For a moment he stopped and literally stared at me, before a laugh burst past his lips. Rolling his eyes at me, he slipped the shorts form his hips, leaving himself in boxers that I forced myself not to stare at. Remember my whole rant about how seeing Mike shirtless was different than seeing him on Raw every week? Do I even need to go into just HOW different it was seeing Punk like this?

"Moment. Ruined."

"If it was ruined, you wouldn't still be stripping."

If you're shocked at this point, I'd like to point out that I was just as surprised at my ability to respond as you are. At that moment, Punk's thumbs had hooked themselves under the elastic of his boxers, tugging at them.

Though, perhaps not as surprising was the fact that at that moment, I turned around just in time to miss the unveiling; instead, moving to adjust the water. No need to cool down now, obviously. It was in this moment that I hurried climbed into the shower, underneath the now steaming water, instantly shoving my head under the faucet. Any excuse to close my eyes as I heard what could only be Punk getting into the shower as well.

Large, calloused hands reached themselves around my waist and suddenly I was very aware of just how small I was in comparison to the wrestler settled against my body behind me. Sure, he'd hugged me before, held me in his arms, but for some reason, the lack of clothing on both of us made me feel so small, almost vulnerable, but in the best way possible.

"Afraid you'll like what you see?"

I could hear the grin in his words and rolled my eyes with a soft sigh, "No, afraid _you_ WON'T."

As much as I'm sure he didn't want to hear it, it was the truth, and in that moment, I didn't have the mental capacity to think my way into some clever lie, or ever a clever way to side skirt the subject.

Instead of his grin, this time it was his frown that could be heard as he pulled me out of the water and closer against his body, "Charlie, why on earth would you think something like that?"

I shrugged, finally taking a breath and turning around to look up into his face, "Just something I worry about, I guess." I pulled my lip ring into my mouth, chewing at it for a moment, "I…"

"You…?" He shuffled across the porcelain beneath us to put himself underneath the water, running a hand through his hair to push all of it back, like he always had it in the ring. It really was a good look on him.

"Why me?"

Those eyes scanned my face, as though expecting to see me burst into a smile, like I was joking, but his examination left him with no questions as to the sincerity in my question. He frowned a bit more, wiping water from his eyes before stepping forward a bit and wrapping his arms once more around my waist, though this time pulling me against him in a hug, my cheek resting against his chest. "Because you're you."

I huffed air across his wet skin, causing it to rise in goose bumps. "That's not really much of an answer to my question." I frowned up at him.

Punk gave me a soft smile now, pushing hair from my own forehead this time, "It is an answer. It's the best answer I can give you." His voice was soft, but loud enough to be heard over the running water. "You're you, Charlie. And that's what makes you special. That's what makes you so different from every other girl on the street." He moved to cup my left cheek in his hand, stroking the cheekbone that he had previously bruised lightly, "You want to know why you. And the answer is just… Because it's you."

I probably would have argued that this made no sense. That if anything, what made me different from every girl on the street was exactly what made me not worthy of him. Of his fame, his status, his looks. That what he was saying was wrong and that he needed to rethink what he was about to do, but I didn't get the chance. Even if I had been able to get the words out, they would have been swallowed by his mouth, which he'd firmly planted against mine.

I couldn't protest. Didn't want to. His words, ringing in my ears, it all clicked together.

"_I'm not a slut and neither are the people I sleep with. Never have been, never will be._"

"_Because you're you._"

The card.

"_You're one in a million, you stick out from the crowd and in a sea of ordinary people, you bring excitement into my life."_

My heart, if not already working overtime, was now pounding in my ears, nearly drowning out the sound of the water around us.

He cared for me. Quite a bit, from what I was piecing together. Of course I knew my feelings for him, and I was pretty sure he knew them as well, but for whatever reason, I was just now figuring out how he felt for _me_.

"_I don't have one night stands._"

Did he mean what I thought he meant?

Was all of this real?

It wasn't going to be promiscuous because he wasn't intending it to be just this one time. But if he didn't sleep around or have one night stands, then didn't that mean he only had sex with women he was dating…?

Did he…?

Were we in an established relationship?

My head was so busy buzzing with questions, I almost didn't hear him.

"Charlie."

"Hm?" I blinked up at him, my eyes slightly wide after having not known he was speaking to me.

"You alright?" His eyes held concern and I couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"I'm fine. Just thinking. I uh… I guess I got caught up in my thoughts." I pushed my hair back out of my face as it fell forward, feel heat creep up into my cheeks.

Blinking at me, he let him arms fall form my side, moving back beneath the water and slick his hair back once more before leaning against the tile wall next to him. "And what could you possibly be thinking about right now?" he posed the question with an arched eyebrow. He was posing.

As difficult as it was, I managed to refrain from laughing at him and simply shrugged, "Just… About everything you've said." My teeth caught the ring in my lip once again, tugging at it for a moment before I decided I might as well, seeing as I was already naked and in the shower with him. "Did you mean…" I wrinkled my nose for a moment before cautiously looking up into his eyes seriously, "Are you… Are _we_ dating, now?"


	40. Chapter 40

**Did you miss me?**

**Prepare for squeals. I EXPECT SQUEALS  
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**And also to be beaten within an inch of my life.  
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**BUT ALSO SQUEALS  
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CH 40

There was a moment in which we both stood, blinking at each other, me with a nervous expectancy, and him with a look that I couldn't read. Or maybe it was just the fact that I didn't want to, for fear of finding something hidden in those hazel irises that would crush the sudden hope that was soaring its way through my chest.

The white noise of the water hitting the bottom of the tub was finally broken by Punk clearing his throat, and I was forced to look up at him, only to discover a soft smile lightening his features. A smile? Definitely better than the eye rolling I'd been expecting. I'll take it!

"What…?" I found my voice, casting my eyes back down to watch the water circle the drain.

I caught the motion of his shoulders shrugging out of the corner of my eye, "Just smiling at you, is that not allowed?" were the words that followed the shrug. I could still feel his eyes on me, and I shifted my weight slightly.

"It's allowed I just… Asked you a question…" Wow. Lame, much, Charlie?

Staring at the bottom of the tub, I was able to watch his feet as he stepped towards me and avert my eyes appropriately up to his face just as his lower body came into view. I'm not sure why this was suddenly so awkward, it wasn't as if I was a virgin, like I'd never seen a naked man before. Why was I being so ridiculous?

Again, it was his voice that brought me out of my thoughts and back to the current situation, which was now the fact that he was wrapping his arms around me once more, not that I minded in the least. His hand reached up to cup my cheek lightly and he kissed my forehead before making direct eye contact with me. "I already missed my chance once. And seeing you with that jack ass was almost more than I could handle. I'm a very jealous person, Charlie. But I can also be pretty logical at times, and I know there's no reason to be jealous over something- or in this case, some_one_- that isn't mine." His hand worked its way to the back of my neck slowly, gently, "I know this is fast. I know you and Mike just broke up. I get that… But, Charlie." He gave a soft chuckle, "If I have to see you date anyone else before I pluck up the balls to ask, I might have to break the poor bastard's hands every time he touches you."

I didn't know if I should laugh or roll my eyes, and so I settled for a bemused smile and a half laugh, which he answered with another laugh of his own.

"I know it sounds stupid, but I'm serious." Punk took his index finger and lightly hooked it beneath my chin, tilting my face upwards until I could see every fleck of green and brown in his eyes. "I'm not missing my chance again. I refuse."

Apparently I really _was_ good at ruining moments.

Smirking up at him, I stuck out my tongue. Yes, like a five year old. "And who says I'm going to let you have your so called chance?"

What woman standing naked in a shower with a VERY attractive man _wouldn't_ say something so ridiculous? I mean, that's the logical thing to do, right? Totally.

The grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth was almost wicked. Literally.

"You know…" he let his hand fall from my face, taking a step back and looking at me as he reached up to scratch at his beard thoughtfully. "If I'm not mistaken, and I don't believe I am, it was you who said a few months ago… Oh, what was it…?" The look he gave me was one of thought, though entirely fake in and of itself. "You think I'm pretty. My arms and chest are to die for. This stupid lip ring that I play with all the time," he first pointed at the metal before letting his tongue dart from his mouth to move it along his lip, "Drives you up the wall and you hate it when I look at you with these stupid hazel eyes," he blinked at me now, his smirk nearly dripping with satisfaction, "Because it makes you weak at the knees."

I felt my jaw drop slightly. He remembered that? Word for word? After how long? To say I was shocked was the understatement of the year. Maybe the decade, even.

"Cat got your tongue?"

I stuck said tongue out at him, "Punk, got my tongue, actually…" I blinked up at him slowly, nearly afraid to speak at this point, lest I say something else he'd later quote at me. "How… You seriously remembered all of that?"

Smirking. Why was he always smirking? "Actually, I don't think I've quite got your tongue yet." I should have seen it coming. Really, I should have. I set myself up for the step he too towards me again. Leaned forward and let his lips hover over mine, just barely ghosting a touch.

Fuck this guy and the way he made my heart skip.

"I can definitely help with that though."

It would've been a hell of a lot easier if several factors hadn't been involved. One was the fact that his lips touched mine when he spoke. This action never failed to drive me absolutely up the nearest wall. Another was that uhm. Hi. We were both naked. In a shower. Further reasoning was just how close he was to me. Even with the warm water of the shower cascading over us, I could feel the heat radiating from Punk's body. Rolling against mine and all I had to do was reach out and—

Well, I certainly wasn't _intending_ to _actually_ reach out and lay a hand lightly on his side, but it's damn sure what I did and it was all the incentive that he needed to lean the last- it had to be millimeters, if that- and press his lips lightly against mine.

And that was all it took. The simple touch of lips. Our breaths mingling together in the warm, almost steaming water of the shower. It sent us tumbling slowly—or not so slowly- towards something I was _so_ not ready for. Or maybe I was…


	41. Chapter 41

**1.) I'm sorry I took such a long break. Like just got all kinds of rough on me and for that I'm truly sorry. ):**

**2.) ACTUAL smut comes next chapter. But I was already up to 6 pages compared to my normal 3-4. XD  
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**3.) Oh my God. These two never shut up. EVER.  
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**4.) DID YOU MISS ME BITCHES?  
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CH 41

It was nothing more than kissing until we exited the shower. Well, kissing and touching. But believe it or not, the touching was all innocent. Hands caressing over tattoos and heavily inked fingers running across my hips. Maybe not entirely innocent, but there was no groping.

Not until we'd reached the bed, still dripping wet. Because of course Punk would think it was entirely unnecessary for us to dry off before we went and rolled around in bed. Fine by me. I could find a different room to go to. With dry sheets and… Who the hell was I trying to kid? I wasn't leaving after this. There was no way.

"So is that a yes…?"

"Charlie, for the love of GOD, just shut up."

Hard to make an argument when for the umpteenth time that night, he silenced me with his lips. But it wasn't just the fact that he kissed me. It was the fact that he kissed me with such intensity _and_ let his hand trail teasingly slow up my side and back down again. He repeated this action a few times, actually, as though he was trying to build up to something. And build up he did.

As our lips broke apart with me left slightly breathless, his hand reached up and cupped my breast gently, his mouth now latching on to my jaw. Then my neck. Down to my shoulder. Collarbone. Down the expanse of my chest, the top of my tit until he let those devilishly hot lips run over my nipple.

I was going to explode. He was _teasing_ me. And on purpose, too, if the grin playing across his face was any indication.

His tongue flicked out once, twice and a third time against the flesh that was quickly tightening into a pink nub, full of entirely too many nerve endings that he was determined to over stimulate as he finally pulled it into his mouth and sucked at it lightly.

I'm not normally easy, I swear, but this was Punk and how many months had we had all of this tension built up now? All it took was his teeth grazing against my nipple before I squirmed against the bed, breath hitching tight in my throat as I tried desperately not to moan. Pft. As if. Once he'd released the flesh of my left breast and kissed his way to the other, I was gone, letting out a low moan, once hand reaching out to find the back of his neck, fingers playing lightly in the wet locks of hair there.

Is it odd of me to mention here how odd it was to watch him moving, working his tongue across my skin and… Not talking? Because it was. Very odd indeed. Simply laying against the bed with my head lifted just barely to study his every move until he stopped, looking up at me with a smile that spelled trouble. The absolute best kind of trouble.

It was only seconds before our lips were attached again and I actually composed myself enough to battle my tongue against his own and _damn_ was he putting up a fight. As his own wet muscle slid its way along mine, I felt a sigh tear itself from my throat, betraying me and turning into a needy moan. It was after that that I decided it was going to be in my best interest to just lay back and let him have his way. It was also a lot easier to get what my body so desperately wanted, too, because as soon as I relented control his mouth engulfed mine and I felt his hand snake its way down my torso.

His touch was light, feathery and almost not enough. Except for the fact that it was perfect in every way. Exactly how I'd always longed for him to touch me and it was as if he knew. Knew where to touch and how to touch and when to move. I reveled in the feeling of his fingers dancing over my skin for a long while, lips moving languidly against his own as light moans left my throat every down and then at any particularly sensitive gestures.

It wasn't until his hand made its way to my hip bones that my heart jumped up into double time, taken aback after it had gotten into such a lazy and relaxed statement. Cause my lungs to suck in a harsh breath, my neck to crane back into the mattress as slowly, almost _painfully_ slowly, his fingers found their way into the fold of highly sensitive, wet—all be it for multiple reasons- skin.

As I hissed out a long, slow, heavy breath, the bastard had the audacity to STOP. The fuck?

"You can still say no." his voice was low, vibrating against my skin where his lips had taken to kissing, biting, soothing the abused skin with his tongue and starting over again.

"…You're a fucking idiot. You know that?"

"Oh, so sorry. Am I ruining your moment?"

I would have snorted, but I still slightly short of breath, so I settled for rolling my eyes and huffing a breath out of my nose in a short laugh, "You really are. You're worse that I a—OooooohkayI'mshuttingup." My words strung together, voice suddenly breathy and high pitched as he pushed a finger past the skin, into the warmth that was the inside of my body.

The bastard laughed against my neck. "What was that, Charlotte? I didn't catch that one." He crooked the finger slightly, seemingly exploring what it was that he had found. The action caused my body to shudder as I bit into my lower lip, not managing in the slightest to hold in the moan that worked its way past my vocal chords. And apparently it was the proper response, pleased him in some way as he slid a second finger slowly inside of me. Though the response that that gained him was a near whimper. I'd waited too long for him to take the long way into this.

"Phil."

He stopped, raising an eyebrow at me and stopping the motion of his hand, which has previously been moving in and out of my cunt. Good. Stopping was good. It gave me a chance to speak.

"Just get on with it."

"Oh, no foreplay? Are you just that desperate or—"

"I'm horny. You're naked. I'm naked. I've been waiting a long time for this and so have you. Stop being a fucktard."

Perhaps now is as good a time as any to mention the fact that when I'm pushed into this kind of heightened sexual state, I lose every amount of brain to mouth filtration that I normally possess.

Apparently Punk wasn't aware of that fact, not that I expected him to be, but I _do_ wish that I'd somehow been able to get a picture of the look on his face. His eyes were wide, mouth hanging slightly agape as he lifted his face from my neck to look at me. The look communicated something between, 'Beg pardon?' and 'Please keep talking'. I've been told many times in my life that confidence is a big turn on to guys, but I wasn't too sure if my lack of filtration counted as confidence or a massive case of stuffing my own size 6 ½ foot into my mouth. And down my throat.

Well, couldn't be foot in mouth, in retrospect, considering that at my words—after the few moments of trying to wrap his head around what I as saying- he was moving over my body, his chest pressed against my own, knees gently spreading my legs apart.

While this was definitely what my body wanted, I felt my heart nearly rip itself into pieces trying to keep up with what was happening. It was as if my brain was just now catching up with what my mouth had just said. Damn mouth. Fuckin' traitor. But I'd just be a dirty liar to say that I didn't want was about to transpire. Then again, he wasn't exactly hesitating, was he? That was a nice thought. That just maybe he wanted this as badly as I did.

Which he apparently did, considering the fact that soon the head of his cock was pressed flush up against the core of my body, hot and pulsing and… Slick. Pre-cum. Well fuck.

"Hey, hey." I moved to sit up, pushing him back with me and taking a shaking breath. Funny how the human psyche was. A moment ago I'd had zero filter, then I'd had the man's fingers inside my vagina, but the thought of asking if he had a condom was horrifying. Why was that so horrifying?

Not that it mattered as Punk seemed to read my mind. Another reason to admire the man before me, moving to his own suitcase across the room and fumbling through it. At least he had a good head on his shoulders. And somewhere else, from what I'd see on if so far.

Why was it I hadn't taken to actually looking his nude form over before now? I mean, he was the one who stripped in front of me. All I had wanted was a nice _cold_ shower. I was behaving. He'd broken all the walls down. Then again, that was completely irrelevant considering that right now I had a very good view of his ass. And as I may or may not have mentioned before, I took enough picture of it when he had trunks on. This was a down right treat.

"If you stare any harder, you'll set my ass on fire." I could hear the smirk. I could SEE the smirk through the back of his head. That's how bad it was. Not than any of you have sympathy for me. Sadistic bastards.

He turned then, and given the area in space that my eyes were already staring at. Well, guess what I was now staring directly at. And no lie? It was fucking glorious.

So he shaved. Of course he shaved. He had to shave. They all had to shave. Not that it mattered if any of the rest of them shaved because I wasn't about to have sex with any of the rest of them. But Punk—Wow, was I _still_ staring?

Quickly averting my gaze, I took to staring directly up at the ceiling. My eyes were safe there. But my ears certainly weren't.

"Does my dick offend you, or is this one of those moments where you wish I'd shut up and leave you alone?"

"I'm going to opt for the latter. Definitely nothing offensive about your penis." God damn my blushing reflex.

He snorted in response before his face popped into my vision as he crawled back on top of my body, waving a foil wrapper in my face. "Even less offensive when wrapped."

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to the two of us. The only two people that could all but bicker back and forth before having sex. It had to be a talent. Either that or we were both idiots. I'm starting to think maybe both, in retrospect.

"Do you ever stop talking? I mean ever? Or do you talk in your sleep too?" I launched the question at him, though in all seriousness, he didn't actually talk in his sleep. I'd found that out the night before.

"I would probably be justified in asking you the exact same thing, however I'm nicer than you are. So I won't."

Yep. We're both idiots.

I gaped at him for a long moment, mouth open, before I huffed at him. "You couldn't be nice if your life depended on it."

The look on his face was the epitome of 'challenge accepted'. "You don't think I can be nice?" the tone in his voice was teasing as he set the condom aside, but the look in his eyes was soft and caught me off guard. I wasn't away he could make that face. That he could look at me like that. With eyes that screamed… What were they screaming? Because it sure as hell couldn't be what I thought it was.

Then again, I'd been wrong about his feelings for me before. What made now any different?


	42. Chapter 42

**As the hoard of angry readers mobs me and eats my insides. **

**I AM SO SORRY IT HAS TAKEN ME THIS LONG TO UPDATE. Life decided to be an asshole and things have been insane and my anxiety has been evil as all hell BUT NOW. I BRING TO YOU. CHAPTER 42. THE MOMENT YOU HAVE ALL LITERALLY BEEN WAITING FOR.  
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**I don't know how much longer it'll take for the next chapter, hopefully I can get into a groove, though. At any rate. If it takes a while, at least you got your smut. Enjoy, guys. I missed you all!  
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CH 42

CM Punk totally wasn't the kind of guy that did "love". It was obvious. To me, anyway. And I couldn't be the only one that would assume such a thing about him. Right? I mean, the guy was put across as this kind of give-no-shits self-confident asshole. Guys like that are the ones that do casual sex. That find the girls who fawn all over them and can't get enough of them and throw compliments their way and…

Okay. So that didn't describe Punk at all. No frivolous sex. He'd told me that himself. I'd never seen him with a ring-rat before. My mind tells me "Yeah, but Charlie, you've only been there for a few months". Shut up, brain, I'm making a point. He didn't particularly enjoy compliments, either. Generally speaking, he was the first guy to give you a humble "Well, I don't know about that but thanks" answer.

If I'd been in a position that allowed me to think more, I'd probably have thought over this for minutes. Possibly hours. Maybe even DAYS. But as it were, I had CM Punk not only on top of me, but settling himself between my legs with… When did he get the condom on? Oh. Right. During the little spiel I did in my mind about whether the man was capable of love or not.

Wow, Charlie. Putting it that way makes you sound like a real bitch.

No matter. At the current moment whether I was reading love inside those hazel eyes was unimportant. What WAS important was holyfuckthiswasabouttohappen . And I type that now with no spaces because that's about how my brain said it. All one word, strung together as though processing it that way would make it seem anymore real.

Just a heads up?

Totally didn't.

By the time I fully pulled myself out of my own thoughts was about the time he kissed me again. And for good reason, mind you. This kiss was different. Not a bad thing, by any means, but different none the less.

Instead of the flurry of lips and sultry moans we'd had before, this was soft. Gentle. Loving…?

No time to dwell on that now. Because now things were getting very, VERY real.

Still with his lips pressed against mine, he reached one of those perfectly inked hands down between our bodies to do who knows what. I knows what. He positioned himself, dare I say expertly and then… Then he stopped, peering down at me with his lips parted, the tip of his tongue darting out like his lips were dry. I watched as his brows creased into a small frown and for a moment, I let my own face fall into a similar expression, "What…?"

"Trying to convince myself it's okay to do this."

…Well then. I wasn't sure if I should be touched or offended, so I went for a general mixture of the two. "Dare I ask why it wouldn't be okay?"

He smiled at this, reaching his free hand to run the back of his tattooed knuckles against my cheek. I would have melted, but we were supposed to be having a conversation. Focus.

"Well, you just got out of a relationship with a giant douchebag. You kind of had a little PTSD episode what, like yesterday?" Okay, he had a point about that, but-

"Punk, " I did my best to sound exasperated when I said his name, gazing up at him and damn was it hard not to get completely lost when I looked up into those eyes, "I'm fine. It's alright. I want it. We're both consenting adults. All's well." Here I managed a smirk that, I hope, rivaled his own.

As such, I was rewarded with another one of those kisses that made my heart stutter in my chest. At least it hadn't given up on me all together, right? Wrong. Because a second later he was pushing in. Every inch, and holy hell were there a lot of inches, slid into me all in a matter of seconds and I was left able to do nothing more than make a choked sort of moan that was much more a yelp of surprise than a moan. And he laughed. Well, chuckled, but it doesn't make any damn difference, the bastard laughed. "Cat got your tongue, Charlie?" He cooed against my lips.

"Punk," I corrected him breathlessly, "Punk got my tongue. 'Cept you don't right now, so you're slacking."

Another chuckle let me know that that was certainly NOT the right thing to say because he shifted his hips a moment before drawing out, almost all the way and painfully, _painfully_, slow. Serves me right. It drew another of the same sort of noise from my throat until he was seated balls-deep once more and I squeaked out, "Right. Stop talking. Got it." This was rewarded with another kiss and shortly after, he finally started moving.

It was slow at first, a lazy sort of pace that had me moaning into his mouth every now and again. It allowed me to trail my hands over every inch of skin I could reach, which was quite a bit. I let my fingertips dance over the broad expanse of his back, the swell of his ass, the tops of his thighs. Skirted tender touches up his shoulders and down his arms, traced the serpent across his chest, threaded the pads of my fingertips into his hair, let them drag down to scratch at the beard on his chin. Not until my second time over his back did I let my finger nails trail across his skin and WOW.

The noise that came out of that man's mouth. Hot fucking damn.

It was less a moan and more of a groan. Hell, it was almost a growl and it was coupled with his hips suddenly snapping forward with that delicious smack of skin on skin and he peered down at me through eyes gone completely brown. Hazel eyes that changed colors when he got horny? Excuse me as I just tuck that little piece of Punk information into my back pocket.

Panting heavily, he swallowed, licking at his lips again, "If I'm gonna do this respectably, you can't do that."

Oh? Well now, of course I couldn't take that lying down. Experimentally, I pressed a bit harder, letting the short nails run along the trail of his spine and, as expected, he let out the same noise, eyes closing and an honest-to-god shiver running down his spine. "_Charlie_."

Now that made me stop, hands dropping back down to the bed while I watched him try to regain his composure. It took a while, but eventually he opened his eyes to look down at me and I swear, the look was scolding. "No nails. No biting. I'm being sweet to you, you start that shit, I guarantee nothing, got me?"

I gave him a brief nod, but yet again I logged this tidbit away in the back of my mind. "I'll be a good girl, I promise." I told him with a small smile, smoothing my palms over his back as if in apology.

Punk rolled his eyes at this but gave me a little smile, rolling his hips into me gently, "I'll hold you to that." And then he was kissing me again and. Well, who was I to argue.

We went that way for a while, just him moving slowly, keeping everything enjoyable, but slow, our tongues rolling lazily in one another's mouths before he pulled back just enough to breath out, "Alright, c'mere," just before he hooked his elbow under my left knee and lifted my leg up. Not far enough for my leg to rest on his shoulder or anything insane, but enough that it tore a gasp from my chest followed by a moan and then he really started. The pace was quick and heavy, filling the room with loud, wet noises that made all of it that much better.

"Oh, fuck, Punk…" I managed out in a breath, arms wrapped tightly around his neck, hands roaming through his hair. Apparently I did something right, whether it was my hands or my voice, because once again, he thrust hard into me and lost it. And then he did it again, causing the same reaction and from there on it was just a frenzy of movement.

I wrapped both legs around his waist, forcing his cock deep into the core of my body, drawing ragged moans from both of our lips as they crashed together in a brutal kiss that was sure to nearly bruise. This was the moment when I think it dawned on both of us just how much tension had been built up over the past months. Every movement was desperate and soon I was clawing at his back again, but this time he didn't even seem to care, driving into me roughly in abandon.

It wasn't long after that that the pleasure started to pool somewhere deep in my pelvis, granting him with more frantic gasps and groans and cries and I swear at that point I'd said 'Punk' so many times it didn't even sound like a word anymore, but that was beside the point. The point here was that all it took was his teeth sinking into the delicate skin of my teeth along with the gruff growl of, "C'mon, Charlie" and I was done. I came. Hard. And I'm pretty sure he followed not soon after, but I can't be sure because I was nothing but a moaning, writhing mess for a good hour.

Okay. Maybe it was more like 15 seconds or so, but the point still stands that it really wasn't until after he pulled out and rolled off of me that I even had the ability to realize it was all over.


	43. Chapter 43

**So thanks to a lovely anon on Tumblr, I got my ass into gear and FINALLY finished this chapter.**

**My excuse is as follows; I threw a piss fit because I wrote about 3 pages and then my computer crashed and deleted it all. No really. I threw a hissy fit and refused to keep writing.**

**BUT IT'S HERE NOW! Don't hate me!**

CH 43

I suppose it's safe to say that none of it really sank in until the next morning when I woke up buck ass naked in bed with heavily inked arms draped around me like a blanket and someone's morning wood pressing lightly between my legs. And I'd be a dirty rotten liar if I told you that I recognized exactly who's boner it was right away. But the thought of being in bed with my (now ex, if my brain would keep up) boyfriend and the physical evidence of tattooed sleeves wrapped around me didn't quite fit together.

…Was that a marshmallow on a stick…?

Punk.

HOLY SHIT I FUCKED PUNK.

And in that situation, who in their right mind wouldn't panic? Right? Right.

So naturally, my instinct was to carefully peel the man's arms from around my body and attempt to be a ninja. And if you haven't found out just yet, I'm SO far from ninja material.

"Please tell me you're not actually trying to sneak out of my hotel room like some cheap one night stand. I thought we covered this last night."

Busted.

"I wouldn't even dream of it. Iiii was just gonna go take a shower."

"Then I'll join you."

"No!" Okay, maybe that was a bit much. I cleared my throat and tried again, "I mean, no. No, that's fine. You're sleeping and that's kind of a miracle in and of itself so you just…" With a vague wave of my hand I continued to scoot towards the edge of the mattress, "You go back to bed."

He gave me a long pondering look before reaching out and taking my hand. His thumb traced lightly across my skin and I felt my heart skip a beat before pounding into overtime.

"Why don't you come back to bed? I mean, not that you've really left yet, but I get this little feeling that if I let you go now, I won't get you to come back." His voice was a deep rumble, still somewhat muddled with sleep as he gave my hand a gentle tug. And how could I resist.

Slowly, I crawled my way back to the center of the bed and almost instantly, his arms were around me again, one cradling my head, the other wrapped almost protectively around my waist. And I can't lie. It felt… Kinda perfect, actually.

Letting out a long sigh, my eyes fell closed and I felt a slight pout start to crease my forehead as well as turn down the corners of my mouth. I also felt his lips press against my temple, his breath tickling against the side of my face. He was smiling. I could tell not only by the feel of his mouth against my skin, but by the tone in his voice when he patronized me. "You're adorable when you get caught, you know that, right?"

"Fuuuuuuuck you."

Clearly I did not think that through. The man behind me pressed his hips forward until I could feel every inch of his length pressing into the small of my back. And if that wasn't enough, I swear to all that is holy he PURRED into my ear.

"Gladly."

"Pervert," I lightly batted at his hand, the nature of the action completely betraying my words.

He simply chuckled at that and shrugged, kissing at the lobe of my ear and then down to my neck, muttering against my skin as he spoke. "I had sex last night for the first time in probably months. I then woke up this morning with the same beautiful woman I had sex with last night in my bed. I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to think with my dick. What do you think?"

"I think you're making it very hard to tell you no, is what I think." My own voice had taken on a different timbre. Lower, somehow and… Not exactly husky, but definitely… Deep, thick and heavy and being a nasty traitor.

"Oh, you poor thing…"

I rolled my eyes, reaching to pinch his arm, the action gaining me an obviously faked moan as he nipped at the skin of my neck with his teeth, "Kinky. I like it," he mumbled, moving up to my jaw now, kissing his way to the very corner of my lips.

"I figured you might, considering your reaction to my nails on your back last night." I may or may not have been taunting him at that point. And he taunted right back, grazing his lips just behind my ear, earning him a slight shiver.

"At least I gave you fair warning." He nearly cooed, pulling gently on my arm now and despite my better judgment, I rolled over. As I did so, I was met almost instantly with a kiss.

So naturally I kissed back. After all, it would be rude to deny him. And that was obviously the only reason I was kissing him; to be polite. It wasn't like I actually wanted to kiss him. Or wrap my arms around him. Or let him roll over on top of me. Or…

A sharp knock at the door had my heart in my throat as well as the both of us nearly jumping off the bed.

"Oh, come on!" Punk was obviously disgruntled as he placed a long, languid kiss on my lips, "Stay here, I'll be just a second."

I grinned at him as he got up, pulling on his boxers and a pair of shorts, running a hand through his hair haphazardly. "One one-thousand."

He flipped me off with a grin as he went to the door and I gave him a too sweet smile that he didn't even see as he opened it. I was fine hiding in the bed up until I heard the voice at the door.

"Punk, I had a question about the match tonight. What would you say to—" John broke off midsentence and it may or may not have had something (or everything) to do with me sneaking across the hotel room with the entire duvet and half the sheets wrapped around me and headed towards the bathroom.

Cena pointed now, just over Punk's shoulder, eyebrows lifted slightly, "…That's a naked Charlie."


	44. Chapter 44

**Alright ladies and gents, put down the pitch fork. And also thank Miranda for invoking the wrath of my Charlie muse so I could write!**

CH 44

"That's a wha—Charlie!" Punk whirled around and spotted me where I froze, eyes blow wide and clinging the duvet to my chest. "Does 'stay here' not mean anything to you or—"

"I heard John, I panicked!"

"So panic means you get up and get us both into shit?"

"Panic means…" I waved one hand in the air wildly, "I don't know! I was going to go hide in the bathroom!"

Both men blinked at me for a long few moments and Punk opened his mouth to retort but John beat him to it.

"You had sex."

The dark haired man turned back to him and stared, no doubt fixing him with a gaze much like the one he'd just given me. "Thank you for pointing that out, John, I'd have never guess that's what happened. I thought I was just stabbing her repeatedly in the vagina with my dick."

I yelped, feeling my cheeks burn deep red at his words and scurried my way to the bathroom, locking myself inside.

If I'd have been a smarter woman, I might have paid attention to the conversation happening on the other side of the door, but… Well, come on. It's me. Instead I busied myself taking a shower quickly, stepping out with my hair plastered to my face and staring in the mirror in almost horror.

I had a bruise –okay, it was a hickey, but DAMN- decorating a good portion of my neck. That would be fun to cover up. Not. And honestly, I don't even remember him giving it to me but there was the proof, standing out against my skin in a deep red patch.

The knock on the bathroom door made me jump a bit, but I went to open it, holding the towel up around my chest and dragging the duvet out with me. "Can I help you?" I asked, pushing past Punk to get dressed.

He gave me an appraising sort of look that had me rolling my eyes but I couldn't help but smile. Cheeky bastard. "I was just checking on you. I expected you to come out and interject at least 3 times."

"I was in the shower."

"I can see that."

I turned around as he threw the blanket back onto the bed and stuck my tongue out at him. "Could have seen more if you hadn't been having a bromance with our resident Super Man."

The quip made him laugh as he moved to his own suitcase, grabbing a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt, "Well, I hope you left me some hot water seeing as you were so rude and couldn't wait to conserve the earth's precious resources." With that he moved into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

That left me in the room alone and for the first time since last night really I had a chance to stop and process the whirlwind that had been my life for the past two-three days. And may I just way. WOW. Because that's a lot to process.

For a few moments I simply sat on the edge of the bed with my head in my hands, trying to make sure that the pieces all fit together correctly. They did, but that didn't make them any less insane in my mind. The only thing I knew for certain was that I needed to tell Eve and AJ before someone else did.

"You WHAT?!"

AJ was perched on the edge of my bed. Well… Punk's bed. Why was I even calling it my bed? Maybe because I'd spent last night in it… Speaking of which, maybe AJ shouldn't be sitting on those sheets…

Clearing my throat, I ran a hand through my hair, wrinkling my nose. "Budge up." I settled for making her scoot even closer to the corner. Away from the center of the bed. It was worth a shot anyway.

She was still looking at me, completely incredulous, absolutely expectant, like I owed her something. On the other side of the room sat Eve, legs crossed as she peered at me from the two seater table. She had a bit more of a… Well, I think it was a disapproving look. Probably because of the way Mike and I had ended.

Eve had been the one to point out that "wasn't this considered cheating"? I'd then had to explain the awkward conversation in his hotel room. The one where he'd called me a slut.

AJ had made an affronted noise at that. Eve just kept looking at me… And it was making me incredibly uncomfortable. There was something about her stare that had me thinking she wasn't entirely pleased with my current 'relations' with Punk for whatever reason.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Funny. It seemed to be a theme for the day. I huffed a breath as I stood, tucking my hair behind my ear as I moved to the door to open it. Only to stand face to face with Layla.

Layla El was another of the Diva's. Petite, gorgeous, and British, with dark hair and tan skin. She was a sweetheart on most occasions. And also wasn't normally one to seek me out. We talked, but never a whole lot. I wouldn't generally consider myself as her friend, but here she was. "Uh. Hi?"

Layla peeked in, waving to AJ, "I was looking for you—"

It was Eve who cut her off, nudging me out of the way with a short, "I've got somewhere to be."

That left me a little jarred to be honest, but I let it go, simply letting the smaller woman in. When I closed to the door and turned back around, AJ was practically sneering. This caused me to raise a brow. "Okay did I miss something…?"

"Probably nothing you want to know about." AJ said, still glaring at the door.

Layla and I exchanged a glance. At least I wasn't the only person in the room to be confused. I for one was starting to wonder if it had something to do with the conversation we'd had on the phone earlier.

It had started simple enough, me calling AJ and Eve, telling them that I wanted to have a chat with them, that I had news for them. AJ had been worried, Eve had been too, at least for the first part. As I'd given them a brief rundown of "I'm alright, Mike and I aren't together and I may or may not have slept with Punk last night," AJ had gotten more and more excited. Eve, on the other hand, had grown more annoyed as time went on. It hadn't been any better when the two of them had showed up and I'd actually explained it all to them.

Maybe she thought I was a slut too.

I hadn't realized I'd started frowning until Layla pointed it out. "You alright, Charlie?"

The smile I gave her was forced and probably not too convincing, "I'm fine. Just uh. That was weird." With a shrug, I landed back on the bed, laying back and sighing. AJ patted my stomach lightly with a sympathetic smile.

"On the bright side, at least now Mike has shown his true colors," She reassured me.

"No joke." I made a face at the ceiling, lifting my head to look at Layla. "Sorry. You've kind of come in at a… not a bad time but at a time that's sort of, confusing? I guess?"

She shook her head, curls falling around her shoulders. "You're fine, sweetheart. AJ and I were talking about doing lunch today so I'd been looking for her. Punk said she was up here in his room?" She tilted her head just a bit.

My cheeks were a bit red as I smiled. "Uh… Yeah." Scratching my head, I nodded. "My room. Technically. Well, sorta." I turned to AJ for help.

She simply smiled. More like grinned, or smirked, actually. "Charlie and Punk are together now."

"We are not together!" I nearly fell off the bed trying to scramble for a defense. "It was a one-time thing, I'm sure. Like comfort sex or—"

"You and Punk did the nasty?" Layla was, to my surprise, smiling.

I nodded now, nearly glaring at AJ. Granted, she hadn't been the one to say it, but she'd made me panic. Which had made me say it. So it was technically her fault. She responded for me. "They did. And Charlie was just about to give me all the dirty details. Weren't you, Charlie?"

"I most certainly was not!"

"Oh come on!" Layla surprised me by scooting up on the other side of me on the bed. Honestly I should have the sheets changed… "We've been waiting for you two to get together for ages!"

AJ gave her an almost reproachful look, "Layla!"

"What?! We have! It's like watching a romance novel come to life." The Brit said, her voice entirely too excited.

I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about that. People had been expecting me to get together with Punk? Did that mean he liked me more than I thought he did? Or that we were flirting and I hadn't ever realized it? Or maybe that we just looked good together? Or that we were better friends than I'd imagined? Or—

AJ elbowed me in the ribs, grinning, "Spill."

I huffed at her, rubbing at the 'injury' before sighing. Honestly, it was kind of exciting, getting to talk to them about everything going on. At least the good parts anyway. I could probably go the rest of my life without ever re-hashing the details of the night Mike had dumped me –literally—ever again.

At any rate, the next two hours would have the three of us laying on the bed and floor respectively, talking about the "dirty little details" of last night and laughing like teenagers.


End file.
